BDBSA Project Metadata Detail

Survey/Project Number: 882          Total No. of Sites: 395
Survey/Project Name: Community Sightings Regent Parrot SAMDB
Abstract: The eastern subspecies of Regent Parrot (Polytelis anthopeplus monarchoides) is a nationally threatened species, occurring along the Murray River and in surrounding mallee in South Australia as well as in New South Wales and Victoria. Regent Parrots have been studied in the Riverland since 1991, and used as an icon to promote conservation in the Riverland. Public sightings of Regent Parrots have been collected ad hoc since 1991, but this has become more formalised over the years, culminating in a large community sighting campaign in 2012-13 known as 1800 Parrot, which established a freecall number for public sightings, with survey sheets to prompt for standardised data. The project aims to consolidate and map community sightings, other habitat data and database records, to provide up to date information on landscape-scale habitat use and movements of Regent Parrots between the breeding and non-breeding season. Concurrent projects involving gps and satellite tracking of Regent Parrots will complement the public sighting information. to identify important habitats for Regent Parrots across the landscape. Reports and broad maps will be made accessible to the community and Local Action Planning groups to encourage private land restoration in the best locations to help recover the Regent Parrot.
 
Start Date: 01/01/1997      End Date: 31/12/2020
Survey Type: Fauna only
   
Study Area Description: We mainly receive sightings from SAMDB NRm region, although we have occasional sightings from Victoria or Northern and Yorke 16.
Objectives
         Vegetation: *** No vegetation survey objectives recorded
         Fauna: Refer to Abstract.
Methodology
         Vegetation: *** No vegetation methodology recorded
         Fauna: Attempts have been made to collect information on Regent Parrots at a landscape scale via public surveys across the SA MDB. This is usually in the form of a sighting diary, made accessible to the public via Local Action Planning groups and the community events. Other sightings may be randomly reported by the public or natural resources staff. Media releases have encouraged people to make sightings during the breeding season (August to November). In order to standardise and validate the public sighting data, and reach out to the wider community, the 1800 Parrot campaign established a freecall number to receive public calls about Regent Parrot sightings. The campign began in August 2012 promoted by newspaper articles and regular television ads on local television stations. The television ads continued until early 2013, and the free call line has remained open, and will continue to remain open until end of 2013 at minimum. Calls were received by the Natural Resources SAMDB Front desk in Berri in office hours, and then by the Chair of the SA Regent Parrot Recovery Team, Kevin Smith, after hours. The NR SAMDB front desk team were trained to receive calls and prompt callers for standard information using the sighting record sheet. Data fields recorded are detailed in the project notes below. Callers were asked questions about the colour and behaviour of the observed birds to try and double check whether the sighting was a Regent Parrot. All sighting record sheets were passed onto the Chair of the SA Recovery Team for cross checking and validation. Some validation included follow up phone calls or site visits. In order to map sightings, the sighting location (usually a street name, locality, house address) was converted to map coordinates (Eastings and Northings) by DEWNR SAMDB staff. Using the location name provided by the caller, coordinates were determined using CFS map books, ENV Maps or Google Maps. A coordinate accuracy was assigned. Currently these sightings are being mapped and analysed. A report combining public sighting data with other regent Parrot habitat information will be distributed to the Riverland community.

Data Distribution Rules: Public Dataset
Project Basis: Vegetation : EPBC/NPWSA Threatened species targeted survey. Flora or fauna species.
Information Authority: Department for Environment and Heritage (BDBSA:Murraylands) - Regional Ecologist