Indigenous rangers and researchers have recorded a young night parrot sheltering inside old-growth spinifex in Western Australia's Great Sandy Desert, providing an unusually close glimpse of one of the country's most elusive birds.
The juvenile was found during a July field trip on the Ngururrpa Indigenous Protected Area after rain. Rangers noticed a wet feather and then identified the camouflaged bird inside a tunnel in the spinifex. The quiet chick appeared to be approaching the fledgling stage.
Night parrots were long feared extinct before a confirmed rediscovery in Queensland in 2013. Their remote habitat and nocturnal behaviour make reliable sightings exceptionally rare, while threats include feral cats and poorly managed fire.
The Ngururrpa Rangers combine cultural knowledge with ecological research to identify likely habitat. Their work with scientific partners includes acoustic monitoring, habitat modelling and environmental DNA sampling at waterholes, which could help detect the birds without disturbing them.
Exact locations are kept confidential to protect the population. The discovery adds to evidence that the Ngururrpa Indigenous Protected Area is an important stronghold for the species and underlines the role of Indigenous-led land management in its recovery.
Sources: ABC Science report; Australian Government night parrot conservation information.
Image disclosure: The featured image is an AI-generated natural-history illustration. It is not footage of the reported sighting and does not reveal the bird's location.
