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Regent Parrot (Polytelis anthopeplus)

The Regent Parrot is a medium-sized parrot of riverine red gum forests, mallee woodlands and adjoining agricultural areas in south-eastern Australia. On development sites, the main risks are clearing hollow-bearing trees, mallee and movement corridors, disturbance near colonies, road mortality and changes to floodplain water regimes.

Conservation status

Commonwealth, EPBC Act 1999: Vulnerable.

New South Wales, Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016: Endangered.

Victoria, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988: Vulnerable.

South Australia, National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972: Vulnerable.

Breeding season

Timing varies between states. Breeding is concentrated in the river corridor from late winter through spring, followed by fledging and dispersal into mallee and agricultural areas. The highest risk period for clearing near colonies is August to January, when eggs, nestlings and recently fledged young may be present.

For project planning, use local records and current survey results to refine the timing. Breeding may extend into December and January in NSW and Victoria.

  • Breeding: Courtship, hollow inspection, laying and incubation generally begin in August. South Australian breeding is usually August to November; the broader range may extend to December or January.
  • Young: Incubation lasts about 21 to 23 days. Nestlings remain in the hollow for about six weeks, and parents may feed fledged young for up to another six weeks.
  • Movement and dispersal: After breeding, adults and young may form larger flocks and move from riverine colonies into mallee, chenopod and agricultural areas. The timing is variable and no consistent annual movement pattern is established.
  • Non-breeding flocking: Outside the breeding season, birds may roost and forage in flocks, sometimes many kilometres from the river corridor. Records include mallee areas 40 to 50 km from breeding sites in South Australia and more than 60 km from the river in NSW.
  • Highest clearing risk: August to January covers courtship, eggs, nestlings, fledging and post-fledging dependence in much of the range. Avoid clearing, tree removal and disturbance near colonies during this period unless surveys and approvals demonstrate that impacts can be managed.

Identification

The Regent Parrot is a slim, long-tailed parrot that is usually distinctive in good light or when calling in flight. Identification can be more difficult when the bird is distant, flying quickly or viewed among yellow rosellas.

Adults are 37 to 42 cm long, with a long narrow tail and pointed, backswept wings. The male is mainly golden yellow on the head, neck, shoulder area and underparts, with a dark green back, blue-black flight feathers and red wing markings. In flight, the yellow wing coverts and rump contrast with the dark wings and tail.

Male length: 40 to 42 cm.

Female length: 37 to 41 cm.

Adult weight: 160 to 190 g.

Wingspan: 50 to 55 cm.

Identification: Sex and age differences

Females and juveniles have the same general pattern but are duller and greener, especially around the head and neck. The male's brighter golden-yellow plumage is the most useful sex difference in the field.

Identification: Similar species and field signs

The most likely confusion species is the yellow form of the Crimson Rosella, also called the Yellow Rosella. A Regent Parrot has a more prominent red bill, a yellow shoulder patch and red wing markings, while the Yellow Rosella has a blue patch under the bill and on the wings, paler blue tail feathers, a white bill and a red forehead patch.

The flight call is a distinctive, harsh rolling or sometimes squeaky chatter, described as a repeated carrack-carrack call. Birds are often detected by call before they are seen.

During the breeding season, inspect large mature or dead River Red Gums near water for high hollows. Colonies are loose, with nests commonly within 150 m of one another and up to 27 nests recorded in a colony. Nests may be difficult to see from the ground and should not be approached or inspected without appropriate approvals and trained personnel.

The supplied sources do not describe diagnostic tracks, scats, sloughs or eyeshine for this species. Absence of those signs should not be used to infer that Regent Parrots are absent.

  • Record the direction of flight, call activity, flock size, use of tree corridors and any feeding activity during field observations.
  • Treat large hollow-bearing River Red Gums near rivers, creeks and floodplain wetlands as potential breeding habitat until checked by a suitably qualified ecologist.

Distribution: States and bioregions

The eastern Regent Parrot occurs in a restricted part of south-eastern Australia centred on the Murray River system and nearby mallee. The nominate western subspecies occurs separately in south-western Western Australia, but the state listings supplied for this profile relate to the eastern population.

The eastern subspecies occurs in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales. Its range is centred on the Murray River and extends along the Wakool and lower Murrumbidgee Rivers, with scattered records along the Darling River downstream of Pooncarie.

Relevant bioregions and subregions include the Riverina, Murray Darling Depression and Darling Riverine Plains. NSW records include the Murray Scroll Belt, Murray Fans, Murrumbidgee, Robinvale Plains, Lachlan, Pooncarie-Darling and parts of the Great Darling Anabranch and Menindee subregions.

  • In South Australia, the breeding range described in the supplied sources extends along the Murray corridor from Chowilla to Swan Reach, with wider non-breeding records through the Murray-Mallee.
  • In Victoria, the species occurs around the Murray River, including Murray-Sunset and Hattah-Kulkyne areas, and along the Wimmera drainage system.
  • In New South Wales, it occurs along the Murray downstream of Tooleybuc, the Wakool downstream of Kyalite, the lower Murrumbidgee near its junction with the Murray, and the Darling downstream of Pooncarie.

Distribution: Strongholds and population trend

Known breeding strongholds are riverine colonies in mature River Red Gum forest and woodland along the Murray and its major tributaries. The South Australian population is concentrated along the Murray between Chowilla and Swan Reach, while important NSW and Victorian areas occur along the Murray, Wakool, lower Murrumbidgee and Wimmera systems.

The eastern population has contracted in range and declined since the late 1800s. In South Australia, a 12% decline in the breeding population was identified between the 2003 and 2010 whole-of-river surveys, and a separate education resource reports a 66% decline since 2003. These figures arise from different survey and reporting contexts and should not be combined as a single trend estimate.

New South Wales estimate: About 600 to 650 individuals in the recovery-plan estimate.

Victoria estimate: About 750 individuals in the recovery-plan estimate.

South Australia estimate: Fewer than 1,000 mature individuals in the 2006 recovery plan; a later resource refers to about 400 breeding pairs.

South Australian colony size: One to 37 breeding pairs in the cited survey, with 65% of colonies containing 2 to 12 nests.

NSW colony size: Up to 27 nests within a colony.

Distribution: Western subspecies

The nominate subspecies, Polytelis anthopeplus anthopeplus, occurs separately in south-western Western Australia. It has been recorded breeding in wandoo, salmon gum and tuart, and occurs in jarrah and other woodland habitats. It is not part of the eastern subspecies state listing described above.

Habitat: Breeding and movement habitat

The eastern Regent Parrot needs three linked habitat components: hollow-bearing breeding trees, productive feeding areas and vegetated corridors between them. It uses both native vegetation and modified agricultural areas, but the condition and continuity of native habitat strongly affect breeding opportunities and movement.

Breeding colonies are concentrated in River Red Gum forests and woodlands on the Murray River floodplain and along major tributaries. Higher areas of floodplain, river banks, levees and point-bar deposits may also support breeding habitat.

Most South Australian nest trees are within 60 m of water and all recorded trees were within 900 m of the Murray River. Typical nest trees are large, mature, healthy River Red Gums with multiple spouts or hollows, although dead or drowned trees are also used.

Birds move between riverine breeding sites, mallee feeding areas and agricultural feeding areas along corridors of native vegetation. Corridors may be narrow, but birds have been observed avoiding open paddocks and using virtually unbroken vegetation corridors.

Typical nest-tree proximity to water: Within 60 m in the South Australian information cited.

Maximum recorded nest-tree distance from the Murray River: 900 m in the South Australian information cited.

Known breeding habitat: River Red Gum woodland and forest, with occasional records in black box, mallee and slender cypress pine.

  • Retain large mature and dead hollow-bearing trees, including trees with multiple spouts, limbs and cavities.
  • Retain connected native vegetation between riverine breeding sites, mallee and feeding areas.
  • Include roadside remnants, black box woodland and mallee patches in habitat assessments where they connect known or potential breeding and feeding sites.

Habitat: Non-breeding habitat and site conditions

Outside the breeding season, birds use large blocks of mallee, chenopod shrubland and other dry woodland. They may also use riverine vegetation, dryland crops, vineyards, orchards, roadside remnants and planted trees in townships while moving through the region.

The eastern subspecies occupies semi-arid parts of the Murray-Darling Basin. The supplied sources do not provide a reliable elevation limit. Habitat use changes with rainfall, water availability, food production, fire and the condition of floodplain vegetation.

  • Assess intact mallee and chenopod vegetation beyond the immediate development footprint, particularly within 20 km of known or potential breeding colonies.
  • Map isolated trees, roadside vegetation and riparian strips that could provide movement cover between habitat patches.
  • Consider both breeding-season and non-breeding-season use when assessing sites near the Murray, Wakool, Murrumbidgee, Wimmera and Darling systems.

Foraging habitat: Food and feeding sites

Regent Parrots mainly eat seeds, but also take buds, flowers, berries, lerp and insect material. Feeding is often on the ground in open woodland or agricultural areas, with birds also feeding in tree canopies and returning food to nest sites.

Important native feeding habitats include mallee woodland, River Red Gum woodland, black box woodland, chenopod shrubland, floodplain herbland and open woodland. Recorded food plants include saltbushes, bluebushes, ruby saltbush, grasses, daisies, eucalypts, wattles, hopbush, mistletoe and other chenopods.

In agricultural areas, birds feed on cereal crops, fallen grain, weeds, olives, almonds and other orchard products. They have been recorded feeding on oats, barley, rye, triticale and wheat, as well as fallen almond husks near processing sheds.

Feeding is usually on the ground, although birds also feed in tree canopies. The diet includes seeds, buds, flowers, berries, lerp, psyllids and insect larvae.

Principal breeding-season foraging habitat: Mallee woodland, especially areas containing Red Mallee and Ridge-fruited Mallee.

Critical mallee distance cited for breeding birds: Mallee within 20 km of nesting sites.

Recorded trip distance to mallee: About 8 to 12.5 km in one cited study.

Recorded crop-feeding distance: Wheat feeding has been observed 6 to 7 km from nesting colonies.

  • Look for feeding birds in mallee, chenopod shrubland, floodplain herbland, cereal crops, orchards, vineyards and around grain spills.
  • Retain native food plants, ground cover and seed-producing grasses in and around project areas.
  • Manage grain spills and roadside feeding areas to reduce the attraction of birds to vehicle corridors.

Foraging habitat: Foraging behaviour and range

During breeding, males may travel from the colony to feeding areas several times a day to feed the incubating or brooding female and later the chicks. Birds may forage in pairs, small parties or larger flocks associated with a colony.

After breeding, adults and young may form larger flocks and disperse into mallee north and south of the Murray. Some South Australian records are 40 to 50 km from breeding sites, and other non-breeding records are 120 to 140 km south of breeding areas. NSW records include birds more than 60 km from the river.

  • Survey both the development footprint and connected feeding areas when a site lies within 20 km of a breeding colony.
  • Record repeated flight paths, flock routes and feeding areas, not only stationary birds within the footprint.
  • Treat crops, orchards and grain-spill sites as potential temporary feeding habitat, especially during drought or when native food is scarce.

Breeding habitat: Breeding biology

The eastern Regent Parrot is a colonial hollow-nesting species. Breeding depends on large old trees, nearby food and safe, vegetated connections between the nest colony and feeding areas.

Pairs inspect hollows during courtship. The female lays eggs on decayed wood inside the hollow and incubates them while the male supplies food. After hatching, both parents feed the young, with parental feeding continuing for up to six weeks after fledging.

Nest colonies show site fidelity, but individual hollow use is relatively low between surveys. In South Australia, only 17% of previously used hollows and 29% of previously used nest trees were reoccupied in following surveys.

Breeding season: August to November in South Australia; August to December in the national survey guidance, with breeding sometimes extending into January in NSW and Victoria.

Clutch size: Three to six eggs.

Incubation: Approximately 21 to 23 days.

Nestling period: Approximately six weeks from hatching to fledging.

Post-fledging dependence: Parents may continue feeding young for up to six weeks after fledging.

Age at maturity: Young birds are believed not to return to the river to breed until they are more than two years old.

Lifespan: No wild lifespan study is reported. One source suggests 15 to 20 years, based on repeated hollow occupation.

Breeding habitat: Breeding-site features

All known South Australian nest sites occur in mature River Red Gum woodland within the Murray River floodplain. Large live, dead and drowned trees are used, and some trees contain several suitable hollows.

Breeding birds also need productive feeding habitat and treed flight corridors. Clearing a small connecting patch may affect access to a larger mallee block, particularly where birds avoid crossing open ground.

Nest spacing: Nests are usually within 150 m of one another in NSW colonies.

Nests in one tree: Up to five nests have been recorded in a single tree.

Colony size: Up to 27 nests in NSW, and one to 37 breeding pairs in the cited South Australian survey.

  • Search large mature River Red Gums and other hollow-bearing trees near watercourses during the breeding season.
  • Protect known colonies, nest trees and nearby feeding routes from clearing, logging, vibration, lighting and repeated human activity.
  • Retain future nest trees, including medium-sized River Red Gums that can develop large hollows over time.

Sheltering habitat: Roosts and cover

Regent Parrots shelter and roost in trees and dense native vegetation rather than in burrows or dens. Hollow-bearing trees are used for nesting, while mallee and riverine vegetation provide roosting and cover during movement.

Birds roost overnight in mallee vegetation and sometimes in River Red Gums along the river corridor. Large flocks may assemble at roosts outside the breeding season, and planted trees in townships may be used as resting places during travel.

During flight, birds tend to remain low and follow tree canopies and vegetation. They may seek dense vegetation when harassed by predators such as Peregrine Falcons.

  • Retain dense mallee, riparian woodland, roadside vegetation and connected tree cover that can provide roosting and escape cover.
  • Avoid removing isolated large trees or narrow vegetation strips without checking whether they form part of a repeated flight or roost route.
  • Consider temporary lighting, noise and activity near known roosts, especially at dawn, dusk and during flock movements.

Sheltering habitat: Hollows and shelter structures

Nest shelter is provided by cavities in large mature, dead or drowned River Red Gums. The supplied sources do not provide a minimum entrance diameter, cavity depth or internal hollow volume for Regent Parrots.

Hollows may deteriorate through prolonged inundation, fungal or termite attack, limb loss, fire and tree collapse. Competition from corellas, cockatoos, rosellas, starlings and feral honey bees can reduce access to suitable cavities.

Recorded nest-tree height in South Australia: Mean 24.6 m.

Recorded nest-entry height in South Australia: Mean 17.1 m.

Recorded nest-tree diameter in South Australia: Mean DBH 1.20 m.

  • Do not remove dead trees, standing drowned trees, fallen limbs or hollow-bearing trees near known colonies without a species-specific assessment and approval review.
  • Where a tree must be retained near works, establish a practical exclusion area that protects the trunk, roots, canopy and hollow from machinery, vibration and accidental impact.
  • Do not assume a dead tree is low-value habitat. Regent Parrots use dead and drowned trees as nest trees.

Threats: Clearing, forestry and fragmentation

The main project risks are loss or deterioration of hollow-bearing trees, removal of mallee and movement corridors, disturbance at colonies, vehicle strikes and changes to river and floodplain water regimes. The species also faces wider agricultural, fire, competition and mortality pressures.

Clearing mallee near breeding colonies has been identified as a major cause of historical decline. Loss of small patches of connecting vegetation may isolate larger feeding areas because birds can avoid crossing open paddocks.

River Red Gum forestry, thinning, ring-barking, removal of dead trees and loss of future large trees reduce the supply of nesting hollows. Large old trees may have low timber value but nearby merchantable trees can still be removed, reducing colony structure and recruitment of replacement nest trees.

  • Avoid clearing known or potential nest trees, colony trees, mallee within 20 km of breeding sites and vegetated corridors between nesting and feeding areas.
  • Retain dead standing trees and future hollow-bearing trees where safe to do so, and assess indirect effects of roads, compounds, powerlines and access tracks on habitat continuity.
  • Use pre-clearance surveys that cover trees, mallee patches, riparian strips, roadside remnants and nearby feeding habitat, not only the construction footprint.

Threats: Hydrology, fire and grazing

River regulation, prolonged drought, reduced flooding, water extraction, salinity and prolonged inundation can reduce floodplain vegetation health and kill River Red Gums used for nesting. In one South Australian assessment, 79% of surveyed nesting sites showed vegetation stress associated with inadequate inundation.

Wildfire can remove mallee feeding and roosting habitat. Inappropriate fire regimes may reduce food resources, while breeding habitat should not be burnt. Grazing by domestic stock, goats and other herbivores can degrade breeding-season feeding areas and riparian vegetation.

South Australian sites showing vegetation stress: 79% of 47 known nesting colonies surveyed between Swan Reach and Lock 6.

Sites with potential to receive environmental water: 16 of the stressed sites in that assessment.

  • Assess effects of changed inundation, drainage, floodplain barriers and altered river levels on River Red Gum health and colony persistence.
  • Avoid burning breeding habitat and retain a mosaic of mallee fire ages, including large long-unburnt areas. The NSW profile advises that no more than 5% of an area should be burnt in one year and no more than 15% in five years.
  • Fence or otherwise protect rehabilitated riparian areas where grazing could remove food plants or damage stream banks.

Threats: Disturbance, mortality and competition

People near nest trees can agitate adults and cause them to avoid entering hollows. Construction, camping, timber operations and repeated access near colonies can therefore affect breeding even without direct clearing.

Birds feeding on spilled grain or near roads are at risk of vehicle strikes. Illegal shooting or culling in orchards, accidental poisoning, insecticide exposure and illegal capture also contribute to mortality.

Corellas, Galahs, cockatoos, Yellow Rosellas, starlings and feral honey bees may compete for nest hollows. Nest predation has been reported from Australian Ravens, lace monitors and owls.

Existing colony buffer cited for some areas: 100 m in Victoria and in the Murray Management Area of NSW for Superb Parrot colonies. A Regent Parrot project buffer should be set by the relevant ecologist and approval authority.

  • Establish and enforce site-specific buffers around known colonies and active nests, with no unnecessary access during breeding and dependent-young periods.
  • Control grain spills and design haul routes to avoid predictable feeding locations where practicable.
  • Check retained hollows for competition by feral honey bees and other hollow users, and obtain specialist advice before any intervention.
  • Manage clearing, vibration, noise, dust and night lighting near colonies as potential disturbance impacts, not only direct habitat loss.

Survey methodology: 1. Area searches

Survey the Regent Parrot, especially the eastern subspecies, across riverine breeding habitat, mallee, adjoining woodland and connected native vegetation. Surveys should cover both birds and the habitat features that indicate likely use, including mature hollow-bearing River Red Gums, mallee foraging areas and vegetated movement corridors.

Search suitable habitat from sunrise to 10 am or from 4 pm to sunset, when coordinated movements and flight calls can improve detection.

Use sightings and calls to detect birds, but allow for quiet birds feeding in trees or on the ground.

In areas of less than 50 hectares, apply the survey guideline effort of 12 hours over four days.

Survey season: Breeding is generally August to December; South Australian breeding records describe August to November.

Guideline effort: 12 hours over 4 days for area searches in areas smaller than 50 hectares.

  • Search riverine River Red Gum woodland, adjacent Black Box, belah, buloke and cypress pine woodland, mallee, roadside remnants and adjoining farmland with native vegetation.
  • Record all Regent Parrots, flight directions, flock size, calls, feeding locations, roosting locations and links between nesting and feeding areas.
  • Give particular attention to hollow-bearing trees along watercourses during the breeding season.

Survey methodology: 2. Targeted searches of nest habitat

Use targeted searches during the breeding season in mature River Red Gum forests and woodlands near rivers, creeks, floodplains and other watercourses.

Inspect large, mature, healthy or dead River Red Gums with multiple spouts and hollows, noting that nest trees are usually close to water.

Nest tree size: South Australian nest trees had a reported mean height of 24.6 metres and mean diameter at breast height of 1.20 metres.

Colony size: Colonies may contain up to 27 nests in NSW, and up to 37 nests have been reported in South Australia.

Guideline effort: 12 hours over 4 days for targeted searches in areas smaller than 50 hectares.

  • Search for birds entering or leaving hollows, repeated flight paths, calling birds, nest material, droppings below hollows and adults carrying food.
  • Map every suspected nest tree and colony, but do not approach active trees closely enough to alter bird behaviour.
  • Apply the survey guideline effort of 12 hours over four days for targeted searches in areas smaller than 50 hectares.
  • Treat all known colonies and all habitat used for foraging as potentially significant until the project ecologist has assessed their use and condition.

Survey methodology: 3. Boat and corridor searches

Use boat transects where access along a river provides a better view of River Red Gum nesting habitat. The national survey guideline identifies boat transects along rivers as potentially effective.

Inspect the full movement connection between breeding and feeding areas, because birds may travel up to 20 kilometres to forage and use corridors of native vegetation between sites.

Foraging distance: Breeding birds may forage up to 20 kilometres from the nesting area; recorded trips to mallee in South Australia were 8 to 12.5 kilometres.

Non-breeding movements: Birds may move more than 60 kilometres from the river during the non-breeding season.

  • Search river margins, floodplain woodland, adjoining mallee, roadside vegetation and remnant tree lines that may connect nesting and feeding habitat.
  • Record breaks in canopy cover, isolated large trees, cleared sections and likely collision hazards such as roads and grain spill locations.
  • Extend the search beyond the immediate construction footprint where the proposal may sever a flight corridor or affect a nest colony.

Survey methodology: 4. Minimum effort and reporting

  • Use at least 12 hours over four days for area searches and at least 12 hours over four days for targeted searches where the relevant habitat area is smaller than 50 hectares.
  • Schedule surveys in suitable weather and visibility, and repeat searches when high winds, heavy rain, poor visibility or other conditions reduce detection of calls and flying birds.
  • Record the survey dates, start and finish times, weather, observers, methods, search area, habitat condition, effort, detection distances and all negative results.
  • Map nest trees, colonies, feeding areas, roosts, flight paths, hollow-bearing trees and retained habitat in project spatial data.
  • Submit confirmed sightings, nest records and survey results to the relevant state wildlife database and use the South Australian Polly Tell Us register where the record is from South Australia.
  • Keep photographs, call recordings, maps and any expert identification notes with the project fauna records.

Before habitat disturbance: Avoid and minimise impacts

Plan the project around the species' dependence on mature hollow-bearing trees, mallee feeding habitat and connected native vegetation. Avoid removing or isolating habitat used by breeding colonies, particularly from August to December.

Critical breeding habitat: Known breeding colonies occur mainly in mature River Red Gum woodland along the Murray, Wakool and lower Murrumbidgee Rivers.

Critical feeding area: Mallee woodland within 20 kilometres of nesting sites is identified as critical breeding-season foraging habitat.

  • Retain mature and dead River Red Gums with hollows, especially trees near rivers, creeks and floodplains.
  • Retain mallee woodland and other native feeding habitat within 20 kilometres of known or potential nesting sites where practicable.
  • Retain continuous or well-connected native vegetation between nesting, roosting and feeding areas, including roadside corridors and narrow remnant strips.
  • Keep works, access tracks, lighting, noise and people away from known colonies and active nest trees, and use a site-specific exclusion distance set by the project ecologist.
  • Avoid clearing breeding habitat and avoid fire in breeding habitat; manage mallee fire so that a mosaic of fire ages remains, including large areas of long-unburnt vegetation.
  • Avoid placing roads, haul routes or other infrastructure beside grain spill locations or other feeding areas where birds may be exposed to vehicle strikes.

Before habitat disturbance: Approvals and project planning

  • Check whether the proposed action may affect the EPBC Act listed eastern subspecies and obtain environmental advice on whether referral or approval is required.
  • Check state threatened species, native vegetation, wildlife handling and disturbance requirements in the project jurisdiction before works begin.
  • Obtain any required authority for nest inspection, handling, capture, temporary holding, relocation or rehabilitation of birds.
  • Prepare a fauna management plan that identifies habitat to retain, survey results, exclusion areas, machinery controls, fauna handling arrangements, stop-work triggers, incident contacts and reporting requirements.
  • Stage clearing outside the August to December breeding period where practicable, while recognising that the breeding period may extend into January in some parts of NSW and Victoria.
  • Consult landholders and relevant recovery or landscape management bodies where works affect River Red Gum floodplain habitat, environmental watering sites or known colonies.

Before habitat disturbance: Pre-clearance preparation

  • Complete a pre-clearance survey using the methods and effort in the survey plan before finalising the clearing boundary.
  • Mark retained nest trees, hollow-bearing trees, mallee patches, flight corridors, wetland or floodplain vegetation and other habitat features on plans and on the ground.
  • Use exclusion fencing or clearly marked no-go areas where it can prevent machinery, vehicles and people entering retained habitat.
  • Brief all machinery operators, supervisors and fauna spotter catchers on the marked areas, daily communication process and stop-work procedure.
  • Schedule staged clearing so the spotter catcher can inspect each work area immediately before disturbance and maintain a safe escape route to retained habitat.

During habitat disturbance: Daily controls and machinery coordination

Use active supervision during clearing and construction. The fauna spotter catcher must be able to communicate directly with the operator and stop work before a bird, nest tree or other retained habitat feature is affected.

  • Inspect the work area each day before machinery enters and confirm that marked nest trees, hollow-bearing trees, corridors and exclusion areas remain intact.
  • Keep the fauna spotter catcher in a position where the operator can see or hear the stop signal and where the spotter can safely inspect the next section of work.
  • Clear in short, controlled sections rather than opening the full work area at once.
  • Stop machinery immediately if a Regent Parrot enters the work area, flies repeatedly around a nest tree, calls persistently from a retained tree or shows signs of disturbance.
  • Do not chase birds, use playback, block escape routes or continue noisy work beside an active nest or colony.
  • Keep workers, vehicles and equipment out of retained riparian vegetation and mallee unless the approved work method specifically allows access.

During habitat disturbance: Habitat features and fauna handling

  • Do not fell a hollow-bearing River Red Gum or dead nest tree unless it has been assessed, approved and cleared under the project fauna management plan.
  • If a tree containing hollows must be removed, stop work and have the project ecologist determine whether the tree contains an active or recently used nest before any further action.
  • Retain fallen hollow sections, logs and other habitat features where the approved management plan identifies them as useful to fauna, and place them in nearby retained habitat if relocation is authorised.
  • Protect floodplain vegetation, wetland edges and River Red Gum regeneration from vehicle damage, sediment, altered drainage and unapproved water changes.
  • Treat rocks, logs, burrows and other shelter features as fauna habitat during clearing, and inspect them before removal or disturbance.
  • Only an appropriately authorised person may capture, handle, temporarily hold or relocate a Regent Parrot.
  • Relocate a healthy bird only to nearby suitable retained habitat identified by the project ecologist, and minimise handling time, noise and transport.
  • Place an injured bird in a quiet, ventilated container and transfer it promptly to an approved wildlife carer or veterinarian under the project fauna procedure.
  • Do not attempt to remove eggs or nestlings unless the relevant wildlife authority and project ecologist have approved the action.

During habitat disturbance: Stop-work triggers and records

  • Stop work if a bird, active nest, nest tree, colony or previously unrecorded hollow-bearing tree is found within the disturbance area or exclusion zone.
  • Stop work if clearing would remove a native vegetation corridor connecting a nesting area with mallee or another feeding area.
  • Stop work after a collision, injury, death, nest abandonment, unexpected disturbance or damage to a retained habitat feature.
  • Notify the site supervisor, project ecologist and relevant authority contact before work resumes.
  • Record the location, date, time, species, behaviour, habitat feature, machinery involved, action taken, person who handled the bird and final outcome.
  • Photograph and map any newly found nest tree, colony, flight corridor or feeding site, without approaching closely enough to disturb the birds.
  • Report threatened species incidents and take-off or landing records through the project reporting system and relevant state wildlife database.

After habitat disturbance: Post-clearance inspection

Complete post-clearance checks before demobilisation and continue monitoring where retained habitat, nest trees, corridors or floodplain vegetation may be affected. Use the results to correct controls and inform future works.

  • Inspect the cleared edge and retained habitat for injured or displaced birds, damaged nest trees, fallen hollows, severed corridors, vehicle damage and unapproved vegetation loss.
  • Recheck retained River Red Gums and known colony trees for new damage, loss of limbs, changed access, altered drainage or increased human disturbance.
  • Check that exclusion fencing, signs and no-go areas remain in place wherever construction continues near retained habitat.
  • Remove temporary materials, waste and access obstructions from retained mallee, riparian vegetation and flight corridors.
  • Report any nest abandonment, mortality, injury or habitat damage to the project ecologist and relevant authority in accordance with the approval conditions.

After habitat disturbance: Monitoring and compliance

Relevant monitoring indicators: Nest presence, colony use, nest tree condition, vegetation health, food plant production and corridor continuity.

  • Monitor Regent Parrot use of retained nest trees, feeding areas and movement corridors during the next breeding season where the project may have disturbed these features.
  • Use repeated area and targeted searches, with the same locations, timing and effort recorded so results can be compared between surveys.
  • Monitor River Red Gum canopy condition, tree recruitment, floodplain vegetation, mallee condition and corridor continuity where these were project commitments.
  • Review monitoring results with the project ecologist and amend access, disturbance, fire, weed, grazing or watering controls if habitat condition declines.
  • Maintain all survey, incident, rehabilitation and monitoring records for the period required by the approval or management plan.

After habitat disturbance: Offsets and residual impacts

  • Assess residual impacts on EPBC listed habitat and state-listed habitat against the project approval and offset requirements.
  • Prioritise any required protection or restoration action near the affected colony, River Red Gum floodplain, mallee feeding habitat or connecting native vegetation.
  • Do not treat planting alone as an equivalent replacement for a mature hollow-bearing nest tree, because the species depends on large old trees and existing hollows for breeding.

Rehabilitation actions: Habitat structure and planting

Rehabilitation should restore the linked breeding, feeding and movement resources used by Regent Parrots. Focus on mature tree retention, River Red Gum and floodplain health, mallee feeding habitat, native corridors and reduced exposure to roads and horticultural conflict.

Known feeding resources: Regent Parrots feed on seeds, buds and flowers, including saltbush, Maireana, Yorrella, Eucalyptus, Acacia, Dodonaea and cereal plants.

  • Protect existing mature River Red Gums and retain dead hollow-bearing trees where they are safe and approved for retention.
  • Plant and maintain River Red Gum, Black Box and locally appropriate native floodplain species around retained breeding habitat and along movement corridors.
  • Restore mallee using locally occurring species that provide food and cover, including Red Mallee, Ridge-fruited Mallee, Yorrell and other local Eucalyptus species where suitable for the site.
  • Plant native food resources such as saltbushes, bluebushes, Maireana species, Dodonaea and other locally appropriate shrubs and herbs identified in the site planting plan.
  • Reinstate continuous native vegetation between nest sites, mallee and other feeding areas, including narrow roadside or paddock corridors where these are part of the recorded movement route.
  • Retain or place suitable logs and other coarse woody material in rehabilitated areas where this does not create a fire, access or safety hazard.

Rehabilitation actions: Hollows, water and fire

Fire guidance: The NSW profile recommends burning no more than 5 per cent of the area in one year and no more than 15 per cent in five years.

  • Retain medium-sized and mature River Red Gums to provide future nest trees, because replacement trees will take many years to develop suitable hollows.
  • Use nest boxes only where the project ecologist and relevant authority identify a local shortage of suitable hollows and approve their design, placement and monitoring.
  • Protect nesting trees from flooding, rapid water level changes, salinity, erosion and loss of canopy condition where project activities affect water management.
  • Restore floodplain hydrology only through an approved watering or drainage plan that considers tree health, breeding habitat and risks from excessive or poorly timed inundation.
  • Manage mallee fire to maintain a range of fire ages, retain large areas of long-unburnt habitat and avoid burning breeding habitat.
  • After wildfire, inspect mallee feeding habitat before carrying out additional ecological burns and monitor food resources as vegetation recovers.

Rehabilitation actions: Weeds, grazing, predators and success measures

Habitat outcome: The target condition is connected native vegetation linking River Red Gum nesting habitat with mallee or other feeding habitat.

  • Control weeds that reduce native food plants or prevent regeneration of River Red Gum, Black Box and mallee communities.
  • Fence or otherwise manage rehabilitated riparian areas to prevent heavy grazing, bank erosion and damage to regenerating vegetation.
  • Manage rabbits, goats, feral pigs and other herbivores where they degrade breeding-season feeding habitat or prevent plant recruitment.
  • Reduce road mortality by managing grain spills, restoring safe feeding habitat away from roads and using project-specific road controls where birds are recorded feeding beside traffic.
  • Work with growers where Regent Parrots use orchards or crops, and use approved decoy crops or other measures to reduce illegal shooting and conflict.
  • Measure success through survival and growth of planted vegetation, River Red Gum canopy condition, natural regeneration, retention of corridor cover, persistence of food plants and Regent Parrot use of restored habitat.
  • Repeat bird and habitat surveys using comparable methods and report results to the project ecologist, approval authority and relevant wildlife database.

Sources