One of the planet’s rarest and least often seen birds is nothing more than a small yellow and green parrot that only ventures out at night. The night parrot, also commonly known as the midnight cockatoo and the spinifex parrot, is native to Australia. Little is known about the bird, and very few people have ever actually laid eyes on it. However, a study that took place in 2015 set out to track the bird and tag a live specimen, which has helped scientists gain a bit more information about this reclusive parrot’s diet, habitat and range, and lifecycle.
The night parrot, or Pezoporus occidentalis, is thought to have a habitat range that extends nearly the entire interior of Australia. This information is largely thanks to reports of sightings over the years. The bird is incredibly rare, however, and scientists guess that there are only between 50 and 249 adult parrots in the wild. Getting an accurate idea of the parrot’s range and numbers is difficult because the night parrot is a terrestrial bird. It spends most of its time on the ground, living in grasses, woodlands, and shrublands and avoiding people.
Despite its terrestrial habits, however, it seems that the night parrot can cover a great deal of ground very quickly. After tagging and tracking one of the birds, scientists discovered that the parrots often fly for miles at night, most likely to find water sources. The bird would routinely fly for 24 miles or more every evening. It’s unknown what the bird prefers to eat, but most who study this elusive creature agree that it most likely feeds on seeds from the grasses in which it lives.
The night parrot was first recorded in 1861 by John Gould, an ornithologist who captured a single specimen of the species in Western Australia. In 1994, a molecular study was done on several different parrot species which helped to confirm that the night parrot belonged in the same genus as other ground parrots. Sightings of the bird, although quite rare, continued throughout the decades. The first video of the bird was taken in 2013. A whistle, which is most likely the call of the night parrot, was recorded in 2017. The following year, a picture of a fledgling was taken.
Although the night parrot’s numbers are uncertain, Australia has elected to help conserve this rare species. The bird is listed as threatened on the IUCN endangered species list. In addition, a large reserve in Queensland, near where a night parrot was captured, has been created. The exact location of the reserve has been kept secret in order to further protect the species.
