Friends of the OBP
The Wildcare group Friends of OBP runs surveys and working bees, assists with research activities and raises funds, promotes and advocates to benefit the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrots (OBPs).
Branch Files
- OBPRP News October 2024 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- EOI - Melaleuca Caretakers 2024-25
- OBPRP News June 2024 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- OBPRP News April 2024 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- OBPRP News Jan 2024 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- OBPRP News July 2023 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- OBP Mainland Release June 2023 - An update from the national OBP Recovery Team on the OBP Mainland Release Trial Program 2023
- OBPRP News May 2023 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- OBPRP News Oct 2022 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- OBPRP News June 2022 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- OBPRP News May 2022 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- OBPRP News January 2022 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
- OBPRP News September 2021 - Newsletter from the national Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Program.
OBP surveys take us to places on the west coast from Strahan to Marrawah.
We look for OBPs on their migration path from SW Tasmania to the mainland.
We visit some spectacular places on the surveys, like Pulpit Rock at Trial Harbour.
We encounter all sorts of weather on the surveys, like this approaching storm.
We assist NRE with building infrastructure at Melaleuca, like this new feed table.
We provide bikes for volunteers to travel between the feed tables at Melaleuca.
We provide supplies for maintaining the bikes at Melaleuca.
Sometimes material for working bees needs to be transported by helicopter.
Where we work
The Wildcare Friends of the Orange-bellied Parrot (OBP) group works across the OBP’s range with a focus on Tasmania.
What we do
The objectives of the group are to:
- Assist with the monitoring program at Melaleuca (SW Tasmania)
- Conduct migration and winter surveys in various locations from Strahan to Woolnorth – read about our search for OBPs on King Island in the autumn of 2024 made possible by a grant from the Tasmanian Nature Conservation Fund.
- Assist with OBP habitat management projects
- Raise awareness of the plight of the OBP
- Raise funds (including through our online shop) to support the activities of volunteers and other recovery actions
Friends of the OBP has a representative on the National OBP Recovery Team.
Members of our group conduct a number of annual migration surveys on the west and north-west coasts. Dates and locations for surveys during 2025 are:
- 15-16 March at Strahan, Trial Harbour & Granville Harbour
- 22-23 March at Strahan, Trial Harbour & Granville Harbour
- 5-6 April at Arthur River and Woolnorth
- 12-13 April at Arthur River and Woolnorth
These surveys will be added to Wildcare’s Events Calendar in mid-January.
An increasingly important role of Friends of the OBP is recovery program advocacy and fund raising.
We are currently involved in some exciting new projects. Through a range of partnerships, we hope to raise much needed funds to support our volunteers and other parts of the recovery program.
Volunteers with Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) observe Orange-bellied Parrots visiting the feed tables, recording individual leg bands and nest observations. This data is collected for the department’s OBP Program staff to monitor survival and breeding success of wild and captive-bred release birds. While Friends of the OBP may assist the NRE OBP Program in various ways, we have no direct involvement with their volunteer program.
Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the latest news stories about OBPs in print and from radio.
Scroll down for research papers and news articles about OBPs
Visit the GALLERY to view images of the Friends of the OBP in action.
Visit FILES to see newsletters from the OBP Recovery Team.
Visit BRANCH FUNDRAISING to donate to Friends of the OBP.
Online shop
All proceeds from sales in our online shop go to support the efforts to save the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrots. Please support the work of the Friends of the OBP by purchasing something for yourself or as a gift. Items are printed in Australia as they are ordered and then delivered by Australia Post.
You can either browse the shop products or check out the groups of products:
- T-shirts & hoodies (18 styles in up to 19 colours)
- Mugs & coasters
- Phone cases (iPhone & Samsung Galaxy)
- Tech & stationery
- Cushion covers & blankets
- Tote bags & drawstring bags
- Face masks
- Aprons
- Dresses & scarves (2 styles of dresses)
- Wall art
Accommodation at Melaleuca
If you are a member of the Friends of the OBP and are selected by NRE as a volunteer for the OBP Summer Monitoring Program, member accommodation at Melaleuca may be available to you.
For more information on Friends of the OBP accommodation at Melaleuca please contact Will Oliver by emailing friends.of.the.obp@gmail.com with “Melaleuca accommodation” as the subject.
For all other enquiries about any aspect of volunteer work through NRE’s OBP Program, including monitoring OBPs at Melaleuca or assisting at the OBP captive breeding facility near Hobart, please email volunteering@nre.tas.gov.au
Our Contacts
President – Marianne Gee Friends.of.the.OBP@gmail.com
Treasurer – Will Oliver
Wildcare Shop
OBPs in the news and research papers
Note that news stories are limited to the last five years while all research papers will be kept here. If you are aware of something that is missing, please let us know by emailing friends.of.the.obp@gmail.com
Berta Blanch-Lazaro et al. (2024) Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV) persists in tissues of asymptomatic wild Crimson Rosellas published online in Communications Biology, 17 September 2024
ABC South East SA Breakfast Radio – interview with SA OBP Regional Coordinator Bob Green and SA volunteer Erin Donnellan about OBP sightings in South Australia on 19 September 2024 (from around 1:18:00 to 1:23:00)
Ashley Bennison et al. (2024) A case study of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 at Bird Island, South Georgia: the first
documented outbreak in the subantarctic region published online in Bird Study, 24 September 2024
Tracking the migration of the Orange-bellied Parrot (video presentation) by Dr Shannon Troy at the Conservation Science Symposium 2024 hosted by the Tasmanian Land Conservancy in August 2024. The presentation starts from about 2 minutes in.
Robbins Island wind project heads back to court, as EPA digs in over “sensitive dunes” from Renew Economy, 5 April 2024
Endangered Orange-Bellied Parrot Chicks Get Health Check (video footage from Healesville Sanctuary) from News.com
Disease threat emerges for critically endangered parrot from The Canberra Times, 12 January 2024
Robbins Island wind farm appeal heads to court as activists and community members launch one last attempt from ABC News, 10 January 2024
B Halliday, A Taggers and A Herrod, A record of the parasitic mite Hemimyialges macdonaldi in the Orange-bellied Parrot in Australia, Australian Veterinary Journal, 21 December 2023
Endangered orange-bellied parrots return to Melaleuca in Tasmania’s south-west in unexpectedly high numbers from ABC News, 20 December 2023
Robbins Island wind farm green-lit after threat to orange-bellied parrot species dismissed on appeal from ABC News, 27 November 2023
Robbins Island wind farm developer seeks to remove shutdown clause designed to protect orange-bellied parrot from the ABC, 12 September 2023
Bird with a wire: How to track one of Australia’s rarest species from The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 June 2023
Hobby aviculturists believe they can help conserve endangered birds from the ABC, 4 June 2023
Duck hunting season cut short at Victorian reserve to make way for critically endangered parrots from The Guardian, 18 May 2023
From the Archives, 1993: Sightings raise hope for rare parrot from The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 May 2023
Breeding birds in captivity may alter their wing shapes and reduce post-release survival chances from The Guardian, 18 March 2023
D. Stojanovic et al. (2023) Fire-mediated tree cavity reduction needs to be considered in reintroduction strategies for a critically endangered bird Research paper, published online
L. T. Bussolini et al. (2023) Carry-over effects of nestling physical condition predict first-year survival of a critically endangered migratory parrot Research paper, published online
L. T. Bussolini et al. (2023) Identifying factors affecting captive breeding success in a critically endangered species Research paper, published online
Stojanovic, D. (2023) Altered wing phenotypes of captive-bred migratory birds lower post-release fitness Research paper, published online
Stojanovic et al. (2023) Conservation management in the context of unidentified and unmitigated threatening processes Research paper, published online
Reid et al. (2023) An ecological risk assessment for the impacts of offshore wind farms on birds in Australia Research paper, published online
Record numbers of critically endangered orange-bellied parrots in Tasmania for breeding season from The Guardian, 20 December 2022
Robbins Island wind farm proposal approved on condition of 5-month annual shutdown due to orange-bellied parrots from the ABC, 8 December 2022
Tasmanian windfarm approved despite concerns for threatened wildlife from The Guardian, 8 December 2022
Animals bred in captivity develop physical changes that may hinder survival in the wild, research finds from The Guardian, 20 November 2022
Unprecedented access: Inside Tasmania’s orange-bellied parrot captive breeding program Australian Geographic visited Five Mile Beach and Melaleuca during the 2021-22 breeding season. Includes video footage of OBP nestlings. Published 28 September 2022
Proposed Robbins Island wind farm could impact endangered parrot population, documents reveal from the ABC, 6 June 2022
‘Worst it’s ever been’: a threatened species alarm sounds during the election campaign and is ignored from The Guardian, 24 April 2022
The parrot clawing its way back from the brink, one nest at a time from The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April 2022
Saving the orange-bellied parrot is just one perk of spending time in Tasmania’s beautiful south-west is an ABC News story from January 2022 that gives a good overview of the work of volunteers from both NRE and Friends of the OBP.
Endangered orange-bellied parrot returns to Tassie from the ABC, 28 December 2021
Orange-bellied parrot numbers are increasing in the wild, giving hope for the species’ survival from the ABC, 27 December 2021
Torquay locals pressure council to step up, hold developers accountable for environmental harm from the ABC, 6 December 2021
Six Australian birds you may never have heard of and may not be heard from again from The Guardian, 1 December 2021
Afternoons Interview – OBP An interview on ABC Radio Hobart with Friends of the OBP President, Marianne Gee, September 2021
Orange-bellied parrots leave Tasmania in biggest ever numbers for annual migration from The Guardian, 22 April 2021
Orange-bellied parrot: best year in a decade for critically endangered bird from The Guardian, 10 November 2020
Most orange-bellied parrots don’t survive their first migration – and Tasmanian researchers want to know why from the ABC, 17 August 2020
Orange-bellied parrots, all but extinct, survive Tasmanian summer only to die migrating from The Guardian, 16 August 2020
It is possible to pay attention to science and then help actual animals on purpose from The Guardian, 7 August 2020
Numbers of critically endangered orange-bellied parrot soar from low 20s to more than 100 from The Guardian, 27 April 2020
Wire on a bird: Tiny backpack radios to keep track of rarest parrot from The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 April 2020
Biologists play cupid as orange-bellied parrots return to Tasmania from the ABC, 14 November 2019
Australia has all the tools to protect its birds from extinction – but it is failing from The Guardian, 5 November 2019