Our Goal:
Most small parrots breed between August and January – the time of year when most food is available. However, some species living in dry areas will breed after rain in any season. Some cockatoos breed between March and October.
With this in mind, we plan to provide 100 breeding parrot pairs (200 birds) with 80 ha of native forest 150 years old and 120 ha of native forest 75 years old. Using a 200 year old 30,000 ha forest, we will evenly disperse mahogany tree habitats, allowing the juvenile or adult parrots to easily migrate between breeding and non-breeding seasons from one area to the next. We we also use eucalyptus trees to provide the sawmill with the additional wood needed for the 120,000 cm3 of timber.
Parrot Conservation
Parrots will nest, feed and
breed in a wide variety of environments – including deserts, rainforests,
mountain ranges, flat grasslands and coastal areas. Many parrot species gather in
large flocks, and it is not uncommon in some inland areas to see flocks of
galahs containing thousands of birds. This insures safety allowing one bird to
watch over the flock (i.e. cockatoos
will watch for danger while the rest of the flock is feeding or drinking).
Parrots usually nest in tree hollows, though some rarer species will nest in termite mounds or on the ground. Smaller parrots lay up to eight eggs, and the young take around five weeks to fledge (ie. to grow feathers and leave the nest). Cockatoos and lorikeets, who live in native mahogany trees, usually lay one to three eggs, and it may take three months before young cockatoos leave the nest.
Threats to
the forest and parrots
With every good plan there are unpredictable events such as fire that can drastically change the age-class structure of the forest. With this in mind, we plan lessen the effects of a fire breaking out by introducing an highly observed and maintained intermediate disturbance every two-five years preventing an accumulation of biomass on the forest floor and provide both the sawmill and parrots with a healthier forest area.
European agriculture has provided parrots with food (in planted crops) and water (in dams and bores) in areas where they did not previously live. This has led to a population expansion for some species. However, these changes may have resulted in a drop in the numbers of other species. For example, the clearing of native forests for farmland in some areas has reduced the number of living and breeding sites for the parrots which previously lived in those habitats.
Illegal trapping and smuggling operations of live birds may have contributed to the decrease in Australian parrot populations, but the removal of eggs from their nests poses a bigger threat. This is because nest-robbers will often destroy the birds' nesting hollow, making it unavailable for the next breeding season. It is easier to obtain and transport eggs than adult birds, and far greater numbers can be smuggled from the country and distributed overseas by this means.