Wildlife Drones tracking critically endangered swift parrots in the Riverina

A small, high-tech Australian company, which has developed the world’s most advanced and innovative drone radio-tracking technology, has achieved a big first in the Riverina region of NSW this month, using drones to track the movements of one of the country’s most endangered birds, the swift parrot.

Wildlife Drones researcher, Dr Debbie Saunders, said today that it’s the first time drones have ever been used successfully to radio-track multiple birds at the same time and see the results live on a base station.

“The Swift parrot is in dire straits with numbers having declined below a thousand pairs and future prospects for the species is quite grim. In order for us to have any chance of reversing that decline we need more information on their movements so we can better protect them,” Dr Saunders said.

“Drones are being used because these birds are renowned for their fast flight and their ability to move across vast landscapes making them difficult to track using highly labour-intensive traditional hand held antennas. Previous attempts to radio-track them by hand have failed. Using Wildlife Drones to track their movements we can track all the tagged animals at the same time as well as search large areas more rapidly.

“Over the past month a large flock of about 60 Swift parrots have been gorging on the nectar of winter flowering White Box and Mugga Ironbark forests in the Tarcutta area and we’ve been keeping track of their movements for Riverina Local Land Services using small radio transmitters that have been attached to a number of birds.

“We have discovered that even though they are capable of long distance flights during the winter they are dependent on very small patches of habitat on farmland for their survival. This means that the loss of even a small bit of habitat can have huge impact on the species’ survival,” Dr Saunders said.
“Based on this information, a joint ANU and NSW Environment Trust project provides funding that will enable landholders to protect and restore Swift Parrot habitat,” said Allie Hendy from Riverina Local Land Services.
“It’s been amazing standing in the old growth forest on the Bush Heritage Australia’s Tarcutta Hills reserve as the swift parrots swoop and weave through the treetops all around us,” said Bush Heritage Field Officer Kim Burnet who has been helping out with the research.
Dr Saunders said that Wildlife Drones technology has become a game changer in efforts to save threatened species globally.

“Until now the tracking of wildlife has relied on researchers walking for hours on end with their arm in the air searching for the signal of one animal at a time before moving onto the next animal tag. Researchers constantly seek higher ground to improve signal detection and have to climb up mountains, on top of fences or even hire helicopters in order to achieve this. However with Wildlife Drones you can create a high point wherever you are and cover large areas of even the most rugged terrain without going anywhere. It makes finding tagged animals much easier and safer for those who spend countless hours in wild landscapes in search of distant radio-signals,” Dr Saunders said.

For more information about the latest cutting edge drone tracking technology Dr Debbie Saunders (Wildlife Drones) can be contacted on 0487 902 204 or [email protected]. Landholders wishing to protect or restore Swift parrot habitat on their land are invited to contact Allie Hendy (Riverina Local Land Services) on 02 6923 6364 for more information.

For further information and media package (drone video footage, interview, photos etc): Dr Debbie Saunders, Wildlife Drones, 0487 902 204, [email protected] , Canberra.