Earth / Action

Lathamus Swift Parrot

Endangered Species / Code Red

Our beloved Swift Parrot is on the brink. Protection of all Swift Parrot habitat is critical. In an urgent first step there must be a rapid transition from native forest logging in Australia. This is an essential response to the bio-diversity and climate crises — and will provide a slender lifeline to the future for this extraordinary and beautiful bird.

A close up of an adult Swift Parrot’s head showing its vibrant red, yellow and green colouring, its powerful hooked beak and yellow-ringed black eye. Image by Rob Blakers.
A close up of an adult Swift Parrot’s head showing its vibrant red, yellow and green colouring, its powerful hooked beak and yellow-ringed black eye. Image by Rob Blakers.

About the project

Lathamus discolor or Swift Parrot is affectionately known as the ‘Swiftie’. Only breeding in Tasmania, the Swift Parrot is principally a bird of the sclerophyll forests and woodlands where it finds the bulk of its food among the foliage and blossom of eucalypts.

Listed as Critically Endangered, under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC), the Swift Parrot is on a trajectory towards extinction within a decade.

The OUTSIDE THE BOX / Earth Arts Rights team joins Wild Island, The Tree Project, BirdLife Tasmania and the Bob Brown Foundation in calling for an immediate end to forestry operations and other destructive practices in Swift Parrot habitat.

For the Swift Parrot to have a future decisive action from government is required. All public land that supports Swift Parrots must be placed under secure, permanent conservation management.

You can join the campaign to help save the Swift Parrot by contacting any of the organisations in the ‘Links’ section.

OUTSIDE THE BOX / Earth Arts Rights is using its design expertise to support the campaign to secure the future of this important bird. Working collaboratively with Rob Blakers (Director, Wild Island) and other environmental activists and ornithological experts we have helped produce a large format publication, Lathamus / The Critically Endangered Swift Parrot. This publication features stunning photography by Rob Blakers, Antoine Chretien, Steve Pearce and Billy Rowe and the latest research from experts in the ornithological field.

This limited edition pictorial publication will progress the conversation with decision makers at all levels of government around the urgent need to protect all remaining Swift Parrot native forest habitat.

A digital edition of the publication designed for individual users is available from our shop with funds raised being used for Swift Parrot conservation.

A small number of hard copies are also available to buy from Wild Island and the Bob Brown Foundation.

You might also be interested in our Birds of Tasmania by Susan Lester bespoke folio book. Funds raised from the sales of Birds of Tasmania will be used to support education and conservation initiatives in the ornithological field.

High in a mature eucalyptus tree in the Eastern Tiers, Tasmania, a Swift Parrot adult is feeding its chick. Image by Rob Blakers.
High in a mature eucalyptus tree in the Eastern Tiers, Tasmania, a Swift Parrot adult is feeding its chick. Image by Rob Blakers.
The cover of the large-format pictorial publication, Lathamus / The Critically Endangered Swift Parrot, with a single Swift Parrot perched on a dead branch. Image by Rob Blakers.
The cover of the large-format pictorial publication, Lathamus / The Critically Endangered Swift Parrot, with a single Swift Parrot perched on a dead branch. Image by Rob Blakers.

Buy SWIFTIE products

In addition to Lathamus / The Critically Endangered Swift Parrot pictorial publication, we have also produced a high quality 1000 piece Swift Parrot jigsaw puzzle to help raise much needed campaign funds for our ‘Swiftie’.

Shop

A picture of the Swift Parrot jigsaw box, with a Swift Parrot amongst dense eucalyptus foliage. There is a red circle with a red Swift Parrot silhouette and red text reading Critically Endangered. Image by Rob Blakers.
A picture of the Swift Parrot jigsaw box, with a Swift Parrot amongst dense eucalyptus foliage. There is a red circle with a red Swift Parrot silhouette and red text reading Critically Endangered. Image by Rob Blakers.
Images: Rob Blakers