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Night Parrot
(Pezoporus occidentalis)
: "Spinifex Parrot", "Porcupine Parrot", "Nocturnal Ground Parrot",
"Solitaire"; misnomer: "Midnight Cockatoo"
 Aboriginal name(s): "pullen pullen", "myrlumbing"
Size: 22-24 cm
Weight: ca. 100 g (average)
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Similar
species |
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Night Parrots are relatively small, rather plump and short-tailed
parrots with a highly
cryptic plumage.
The back (upperparts) is greenish with dark-grey scalloping. The
front (underparts) is more yellowish, with some dark-grey barring.
The outer edges of the uppertail are also more yellowish than the
rest of the tail. The flight feathers are dark-grey with light
edge-lining. The sides of the head are greenish without any
scalloping. The eyes, which have dark irises, are surrounded by
grey eye-rings. The cere is dark-grey.
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Twitcher's tip |
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Compared to Ground Parrots, Night Parrots have a more yellowish
appearance and a much shorter tail.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Night
Parrot at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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Click here for information on habitat
and range
The range and distribution of Night Parrots is uncertain.
Night Parrots are endemic to Australia.
Although it is suspected that they may exist in a near-rectangular
area spanning about 2500 km (E-W) x 1500 km (N-S), encompassing
the entire interior of the Australian continent from the eastern
inland half of WA to far-western QLD and from the southern edge
of the Kimberley in WA to the northern edge of the Nullarbor,
there are only two currently confirmed sub-populations. One such
population exists in the Murchison/Pilbara region of WA and the
other in
the Channel country of western QLD. It is unclear whether Night
Parrots exist anywhere in between these two areas and hence also
whether the two sub-populations may still be connected. With an
estimated total population of 50-250 individuals, the average
population density of Night Parrots is probably extremely low.
Night Parrots live in inland plains, primarily with Triodia ("Spinifex") grass
and in samphire around salt lakes.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
After recent visual sightings in WA in 2004 and 2005, the
first Night Parrot sighting with photo and video evidence was
reported by J. Young from western QLD in July 2013. The site of
this sighting was subsequently converted into a nature reserve
for the conservation of the Night Parrot. The sighting information
and photo presented on this page originate from that nature reserve,
which is now called the Pullen Pullen Nature Reserve , after the
local Aboriginal name for the species.
The sighting and photographic information from 2015
has been kindly contributed by Dr. S. Murphy and is reproduced
here with his permission. More detailed information can be found
on the
Night Parrot page of
Bush Heritage Australia.
All requests for information or reproduction of the photo of a
Night Parrot shown here should be directed to
.
In the 2016 breeding season a small number of nests were found in
Diamantina NP, QLD. One such nest is shown in the photo below,
obtained by J. Young/Australian Wildlife
Conservancy in October 2016.
The nesting and photographic information from 2016
has been kindly contributed by J. Young and Dr. P. Tucak,
Australian Wildlife
Conservancy, and is reproduced here with their kind permission.
All requests for information or reproduction of the photo of a
Night Parrot nest shown here should be directed to
.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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Near-dorsal view of a Night Parrot hiding between tussocks of
Triodia ("Spinifex")
grass (photo courtesy of Dr. S. Murphy)
[Pullen Pullen Nature Reserve, western QLD, April 2015]
These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our
contributors.
The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species
please refer to a field guide.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Food
Call/s
