Bourke’s Parrot

Our first encounter with Bourke’s Parrots on this trip was at Oma Waterhole on the Barcoo River south of Isisford.  Here, when logging the Bourke’s on a Birdata survey for our camp area I found the sighting was deemed to be outside of the species estimated core range and I was therefore requested to “please provide notes to support the sighting”. There were two birds, a male and female pair which were seen in the late afternoon and again in the morning at our camp site on the waterhole. Some photos were taken including the following of the male.

Please click on photos to enlarge.

The males are only slightly more coloured than the females however the faint blue on the forehead above the bill shows this is a male.

Travelling west from Isisford to Lochern National Park we saw several pairs and some single birds by the roadside and again more birds in the park and more later in Welford National Park giving us the impression Bourke’s are moderately numerous in this area of outback Queensland at present.

In Welford we saw pairs in a number of locations and one small flock of eight birds. The two photos below show a female (no blue on the forehead) which was with a male and seen on a number of days near our camp at Little Boomerang Waterhole Campground in Welford NP. 

Most birds seen were in pairs and given it was mid-August and they breed from August to December, and conditions were good following drought breaking rain - there were many seeding forbs and grasses – the Bourke’s were no doubt in breeding mode, as were many other species including Budgerigars, White-browed and Masked Woodswallows, Cockatiels, Spinifex Pigeons, Crimson Chats and Rufous Songlarks.

Bourke’s Parrots are mostly ground feeders and they have developed plumage that makes them blend in to their surrounds. They are shy and only come to water after sunset and before dawn so photo opportunities are hard to come by. In addition their plumage colours and patterns give the birds a slightly out-of-focus look in the images, so obtaining sharp photos of the Bourke’s is a challenge.