The parrots are hard to see. Small and fast, they dart by and are quickly lost in distant branches. Bright grass green in colour, the swift parrot has patches of red on the throat, chin and forehead which are bordered by yellow. It also has red on the shoulder and under the wings and blue on the crown, cheeks and wings. These colours make it hard to distinguish from Rainbow Lorikeets, Scaly-breasted Lorikeets and the Little Lorikeet, especially as it has a tendency to flock with these noisier birds. The call of the swiftie is quite distinct, or so I was told, being more like a tinkling bell than the screech of the lorikeets. When confronted with a mass of screeching though, it’s hard to pick out the sweet sound of the parrot from all the other calls. They also have a tendency to remain very quiet, so you can possibly be totally surrounded by this endangered creature and not even know it.

Swift Parrots breed in Tasmania and migrate to mainland Australia in autumn. During winter the parrots are semi-nomadic, foraging in flowering eucalypts mainly in Victoria and New South Wales. Small numbers of swift parrots are occasionally recorded in the Australian Capital Territory, south eastern South Australia and southern Queensland.

Evidence is now gathering that certain forest types on the NSW coast are extremely important foraging habitats for this species. In lowland coastal forests of New South Wales, Swift Parrots forage in flowering swamp mahogany E. robusta, spotted gum Corymbia maculata and red bloodwood C. gummifera. In south east Queensland and northern New South Wales, Eucalyptus tereticornis/E. crebra forests and E. melliodora forest are utilised. The birds seem to select larger trees over small ones for foraging. A reason for this could be that larger trees have greater canopy foliage and thus support more flowers.

There are a number of sightings of the Swift Parrot in the Clarence Valley. Protecting the forest communities here is important for the survival of the species. It is endangered because of loss of habitat and loss of food sources. As I sit here I can hear a chainsaw. It has been going non-stop for the last month. Timber companies are paying good money for poles at the moment. Cutting down the "poles" means that less trees will get to grow big and grand. This will impact on the Swift Parrot, and of course many other species, ecosystems and global functions.

We all have an impact on the earth. We all have to be aware of how our choices impact on a larger scale. We all have the power to know or to not know. Which would you choose?

Did we see any parrots that day? Yes. We saw a pair suddenly dart out across a break in the canopy, distinguished by their long pointed brown tails. It was momentary, but it was proof that the Swift Parrot is living amongst us.

-Emma