Meet Kyloring
Meet Kyloring
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The Western Ground Parrot, also known by the Noongar name Kyloring (or alternatively Kyloriny), is one of the rarest parrots in the world. It once inhabited coastal heathlands ranging all the way from Dongara, 350 km north of Perth, to Israelite Bay, 800km south east of Perth.
The decline of the species began in the 1800s through clearing of their heathland habitat for grazing and agriculture. Predation by feral cats and introduced foxes as well as devastating wildfires have greatly reduced their numbers since.
Today less than 150 Western Ground Parrots are thought to survive.
Until recently, this critically endangered bird was restricted to a single population in Cape Arid National Park and adjacent Nuytsland Nature Reserve in the remote south-east of Western Australia.
Ecology
Western Ground Parrot feeding on flowers
The Western Ground Parrot is a medium-sized bird (approximately 30cm long) with a long tail. Its distinct green, yellow and black patterned plumage offers great camouflage. Unlike most parrots, it is secretive, spending most of the day feeding close to the ground in dense, floristically diverse coastal heathland.
It does fly, but generally will only do so between roosting and feeding areas or when flushed, when it flies low over vegetation. Calling only at dawn and dusk, it sounds like an old-fashioned kettle whistling. Listen to its call.
Its diet is varied and consists of seeds, flowers, green fruit and leaves.
See our Photo gallery for some images of Kyloring in the wild.
Little is known about the parrot’s breeding habits in the wild. An active nest was last found in 1913. It was described as a slight depression among low prickly vegetation containing three eggs.
In 2018, an inactive nest was discovered by Parks and Wildlife Service staff at Cape Arid National Park.
Fledglings are recorded between September and November each year and young are known to leave the nest before they are fully fledged.
Most information about the Western Ground Parrot's courtship and breeding available today, including this video clip showing a parrot at a nest, has been obtained from CCTV footage monitoring the small number of captive birds at Perth Zoo.
Juvenile Western Ground Parrot
Species under threat
As a bird that spends most of its time near the ground, the parrots are particularly vulnerable to predation by feral cats and introduced foxes. Considerable effort is being made through the Western Shield Program to remove these predators through baiting and trapping in Western Ground Parrot habitat.
With a changing and drying climate in the south of Western Australia, bushfires ignited by lightning strikes are becoming increasingly common and more severe.
The only known wild population was almost wiped out in 2015 when uncontrolled wildfires scorched most of their habitat in Cape Arid National Park and Nuytsland Nature Reserve. A further major fire occurred in 2019.
Not only are bushfires a constant threat to the birds themselves, they destroy the long unburnt habitat the parrots need for shelter and to breed.
Further reading: Landscope: From the Ashes
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