One of the rarest parrots in the world and almost extinct. Unique to Western Australia, there are less than 140 of these parrots left in the whole world and their numbers are declining fast.

If we don't act now the Western Ground Parrot will disappear forever and Australia will have another entry on the extinct species list.

Friends of the Western Ground Parrot
Friends of the western ground parrot

This is what we do

  • The Group

    In 2003 a number of concerned South Coast residents and Birds Australia members decided to form a community group to gather support for the Western Ground Parrot whose numbers were in serious decline.

  • Awareness

    The main aims of the group are to raise awareness about the threat of extinction facing the species as well as assisting with research and recovery projects. We also lobby for government support.

  • Recovery & Protection

    The group's effort support the Department of Parks and Wildlife South Coast Threatened Birds Recovery Team to monitor the remaining populations in the wild, search for new populations and implement other key recovery actions. The group is also supporting recovery projects such as the Perth Zoo Western Ground Parrot captive breeding program and field survey for the parrot.

  • Join Us

    Join us if you want to help save the Western Ground Parrot. Annual membership fees are only $10.
    Click here to get in touch, we will be more than happy to help.

About

Facts about WESTERN GROUND PARROTS

The Western Ground Parrot is a medium-sized parrot with mainly green and yellow feathers which have brown and black flecks giving it an excellent camouflage. It has a bright red band above the beak. Its tail is quite long.

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Ecology

The Western Ground Parrot (Pezoporus flaviventris) is one of the more unusual members of the parrot family. As the name implies it spends much of its time on the ground where it also builds its nest. World-wide there are only four other species of ground-dwelling parrots, the almost extinct Night Parrot, New Zealand's Kapako, the Antipodean Island Parrot and the Eastern Ground Parrot.

Recovery Project

The Department of Parks and Wildlife lead the recovery project for the Western Ground Parrot. This project is overseen by the South Coast Threatened Birds Recovery Team which includes membership from partner organisation, community representative and the Friends of the Western Ground Parrot. Recovery actions are detailed in the South Coast Threatened Birds Recovery Plan

Key Threats

The decline of the Western Ground Parrot can be attributed to the loss of habitat through broad-scale historical clearing. With so little habitat left other threats such as predation by the European fox and feral cat and inappropriate fire regimes are vitally important to manage to maintain and recover the few remaining birds.

Conservation

Surveys carried out in the 1980s raised alarm when Western Ground Parrots could only be located in a few locations along the South Coast. By 1990 it was estimated that just under 380 parrots survived in the wild.

History of the parrot

Click to learn more of its history

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