The Night parrot is not extinct. After more than a century, a living specimen was captured in Queensland

Conservation projects

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The Night parrot was considered as extinct species by many biologists and researchers. A living specimen had not been captured since the 1890s. In 2013, the Australian ornithologist John Young found and also took photos of this species. However, there were still some doubters who didn’t believe that the Night Parrot really survived. A new discovery is an unquestionable evidence of existence of this mysterious bird.

It took 18 months to capture it

The first specimen was captured after 18 months of an intensive research by an ornithologist Steve Murphy on 4 April. He decided to take feather samples for DNA analysis. The bird was tagged with a small tracker. A battery inside can last for 21 days so this tracking brought much of new information about ecology and ethology of the Night Parrot. Before this observation researchers didn’t know anything about the secret life of this species.

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For better monitoring about 30 remote cameras have been places all over the area.

“Before this research, we didn’t know what they ate, where they got their water from or anything. We’re really starting from ground zero with the night parrot.” said Rob Murphy, executive manager of conservation group Bush Heritage Australia for The Guardian.

The area is now to be protected

That information about exact location is highly confidential. “This is the biggest story of conservation in Australia today. For as long as we can, we’ll keep it as secret as we can. It’s just such a critical thing that we do everything that we can to save this species to bring it back from the brink of extinction.“ said Mr Murphy

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Another member of the successful research team is Dr Steve Murphy. According to his statement, public would have an opportunity to see them if more birds will be found. „But without finding those other populations the risks are still really too great“, said the researcher for ABC news.

He also describes his personal experience with this species: „It was an incredible experience sitting on the hill, and this little bird calling out from the spinifex just after dusk, it was amazing. They come out at night, they’re nocturnal and in the daytime they’re tucked right up in the spinifex and impossible to see.“

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Title photo: (c) Rachel Barr

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