Superb Parrot - Nswfmpa.org

Animal Care Studies - Western Sydney Institute of TAFE, Richmondfeeding in town parks and gardens. Mixed Callitris-Eucalyptus woodlands are frequentedin west-central and north-central New South Wales. In northern New South Wales, P.swainsonii favour the flooded-zone Eucalyptus community, similar to that along the midreaches of the Murrumbidgee River, but occasionally are found in association withbimble box Eucalyptus populiflora away from the river.BreedingP. swainsonii mainly go to nest between September and January. Courtship displays arevariable but usually commence with the male making short flights to and from theperched female, who also at times will take a short flight then return to the original perch.The male bows with eyes flashing while at the same time dilating and contracting thepupils; sometimes raising the feathers on the forecrown of the head and slightly spreadingboth wings. While the female crouches submissively with wings drooped and uttering asoft begging call. Courtship feeding usually follows and sometimes copulation takesplace.Figure 8. P. swainsonii breeding areas.Within the Murray-Riverina (refer Figure 6) and the Barmah-Millew Forest (refer Figure5) areas P. swainsonii relies on the riparian river red gum forest for nesting and prefers tonest in large trees, which contain numerous hollows. These types of trees take at least 150years to form hollows. The availability of suitable trees for nest sites is critical tomaintaining and increasing P. swainsonii numbers as nesting does not occur unless treeswith suitable hollows are found. A typical nest tree is generally one of the largest trees inthe forest and located within 9km of box woodland. The typical nest tree in the region hasa diameter (at breast height) of 1.57m, a height of 33m and a maximum crown width of11m. The typical nest hollow is 17m above the ground and around 26m from awatercourse. Black box, white cypress pine and boree are often associated with manybreeding areas. (refer Figure 9)Keith Naylor 28/3/2005 Version 3 16