Tiny seeds for Orange-bellied Parrots
NGT spent a few sunny days in the salt-marshes of south west Victoria collecting Beaded Glasswort (Sarcocornia quinqueflora) seeds. These tiny seeds will hopefully provide some valuable information towards the ongoing research supporting the Orange-bellied Parrots in their fight against extinction. Many hours were spent collecting and cleaning the tiny seeds in preparation to freeze them, until we have enough to start the nutrient analysis. The Beaded Glasswort seeding season is almost over in south west Victoria so we have finished our seed collecting until late autumn next year.
Searching for Beaded Glasswort seeds (Sarcocornia quinqueflora)
The winter bird surveys are still taking place, and we are looking for volunteers to spend a few hours in the field looking for Orange-bellied Parrots and Blue-winged Parrots. If you are interested in helping out this weekend 26th to 28th of July, please contact Nicole via email or phone 0414 778 309.
300 grams of Beaded Glasswort seeds are needed for the nutrient testing.
If you are interested in OBP recovery, then you might be interested in the unique experience of volunteering at Melaleuca in Tasmania. The Orange-bellied Parrot Tasmania Program is currently looking to fill volunteering positions for the upcoming breeding season. Find more information about job duties, selection criteria, living conditions, and application process here.
The OBP winter monitoring program in south west Victoria is undertaken by Nature Glenelg Trust in close partnership with BirdLife Australia and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. This project is supported by Glenelg Hopkins CMA and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program.
