Numbers of critically endangered orange-bellied parrot soar from low 20s to more than 100

In 2013, just three adult females remained in the wild, now a much larger group will leave Tasmania to fly north for the winterThere has been little good to say about the recent history of the critically endangered orange-bellied parrot. Numbers of the small migratory bird, which makes a return trip from Tasmania's south-west wilderness to the mainland's coastal scrubland each year, have fallen so sharply scientists consider it at risk of extinction within five years.Just 23 birds arrived at the species' breeding site at Melaleuca, deep in the Tasmanian World Heritage Wilderness Area, last spring. Continue reading...