Data Zone
Justification of Red List category
This species is classified as Near Threatened because it has a small population that is thought to vary substantially in response to conditions, suspected to be less than 1,000 mature individuals when at minimum.
Population justification
There have been three reports of large concentrations of Princess Parrots in the last fifty years: up to 300 on Canning Stock Route in the early 1990s (Carter 1993), a maximum of 172 at the best-known breeding event, during 2010 on the eastern edge of their range, a region which was also occupied in 1894 (Pavey et al. 2014), and a flock of at least 110 at Newhaven Reserve in winter 2012 (C. Pavey unpublished). In the last decade, however, there have been sightings over a large range in the Great Victoria, Little Sandy and Gibson Deserts both before and during the most recent documented breeding event suggesting a population at least ten times that number, so the maximum population size is suspected to be c.10,000 mature individuals but this requires confirmation. The population is thought to vary substantially in response to conditions, and is suspected to number fewer than 1,000 when at minimum (Pavey et al. 2021).
Trend justification
Earlier suggestions that the species is declining (Reid and Fleming 1992) were made before the 2010 breeding event in central Australia and the extreme variability in records across the range confounds any change in distribution. As a result the population is thought to be stable.
Princess Parrots occur in the arid zone of north-west South Australia, south-west Northern Territory and most of inland Western Australia in an area that encompasses the Great Sandy, Gibson, Tanami and Great Victoria Deserts (Blyth and Burbidge 1997). Sightings are scattered and irregular across its range which has its outer limits of Oodnadatta in South Australia, west to near Coolgardie and the upper Murchison River in Western Australia, north to near the Fitzroy River in Western Australia and north-east to Howell Ponds and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory (Higgins 1999, Baxter and Henderson 2000). It has been proposed that the species has distinct core and irruptive ranges (Pavey et al. 2014). Records from south-west and north-west Western Australia, northern Northern Territory and northern South Australia may have become less frequent since the 1950s (Blyth and Burbidge 1997), but the extreme variability confounds any change in distribution.
They are usually seen in swales between sand dunes, where they feed on a variety of seeds, as well as flowers, fruits and foliage of shrubs and trees. The species has been recorded eating on eleven plant species within the Haasts Bluff ALT (Pavey et al. 2014) and are closely associated with Marble Gums Eucalyptus gongylocarpa in the Great Victoria Desert (L. Joseph in litt. 2016). Pairs studied within the Haasts Bluff ALT were found to fledge one or two young, with a maximum of five recorded. The percentage of groups with three or more birds (assumed to be a pair with offspring) increased through September (14%), October (27%) and November (38%) (Pavey et al. 2014). Twenty-two active nests were recorded, all found in hollows of Marble Gums, with trees having an average height of 14.06 +/- 0.70 m and the mean height of nest entrances being 6.76 +/- 0.37 m (Pavey et al. 2014). The 2010 breeding event (Pavey et al. 2014) was consistent with the species breeding in core areas in wet years then irrupting or dispersing more widely (Higgins 1999).
The greatest potential threat to Princess Parrots is the spread of buffel grass Cenchrus ciliaris which increases fire spread and intensity, reducing the abundance of spinifex (Smyth et al. 2009) and damaging old hollow-bearing trees (Pavey et al. 2014), many of which are already senescent (Westerhuis et al. 2019). Their habitat may also have been degraded and food availability reduced by introduced rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus and camels Camelus dromedarius (Higgins 1999), and cats Felis catus could also be a threat to some individuals (Woinarski et al. 2017). Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease and poaching of eggs or young from nests are potential and minor threats, respectively (Carter 1993, Higgins 1999) but there is information on neither. Increasing heat may also affect the species given climate predictions for the region (Jacobs et al. 2013).
Conservation Actions Underway
CITES Appendix II. Large areas of habitat are within protected areas. Research is under way on buffel grass management.Conservation Actions Proposed
Study the ecology of species near Lake Tobin or the Great Victoria Desert to determine the likely constraints on population size. Understand movement ecology, building on methods of Herrod et al. (2014). Follow up sightings to characterise habitat and model habitat requirements and response to fire history and rainfall from across the species's range. Determine effective means of buffel grass control at a landscape level. Use information from research to develop a management strategy. Protect any areas where the species is recorded breeding. Establish a means of limiting fire spread after wet years, particularly in habitats with buffel grass. Respect and involve Indigenous traditional owners in management where appropriate. Exclude or control buffel grass in old stands of hollow-bearing trees.
Text account compilers
Vine, J., Taylor, J., Garnett, S., Benstead, P.
Contributors
Burbidge, A.H. & Joseph, L.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Princess Parrot Polytelis alexandrae. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/princess-parrot-polytelis-alexandrae on 25/12/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 25/12/2024.