New parrot species found in Queensland
November 8, 2006 - Source: The Age
A veteran bird-watcher has discovered a new species of parrot in Queensland after a decade of searching.
Queensland naturalist and wildlife cinematographer John Young has discovered the rare blue-fronted fig parrot in a rugged southern Queensland forest after an exhaustive search.
The exact site of the finding has not been disclosed.
Although Mr Young has known of the bird's existence for 10 years, he only recently found evidence that the parrot differed from the endangered Coxen's fig parrot that overlaps in range.
Three fig parrots were known to occur in Australia and all are regarded as subspecies of the double-eyed fig parrot.
Queensland Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr said the blue-fronted fig parrot represented a fourth fig parrot subspecies or a separate species.
She said the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service had received unconfirmed fig parrot sightings in the Burnett region and the Sunshine and Gold Coast hinterlands over the past decade, but no photograph, specimen or sound recording had been made.
Naturalist John Gould described the first fig parrot in Australia 130 years ago.
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