Wildcare | Branches | Friends of the OBP

The Friends of Orange-bellied Parrot coordinates volunteers and assists with research activities under the National Orange-bellied Parrot Recovery Plan. A core part of our activities is the provision of volunteers to the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment’s observation program at Melaleuca each summer.

Branch Files

Statement of Duties - Word Version - OBP - statement of duties
Statement of duties - PDF version

Early to rise. Its observation time. No problems on days like this at Melaleuca.

BUT it isn't always like that!

Daily observations are made by Friends of the OBP volunteers between 7-9am and 4-6pm.

12 OBPs at once!!. A hectic task to record all their bands.

With a kilometre between observation posts and feed tables bike-riding is the ideal way for volunteers to get around.

Braving wet, wind and mud to finish off the newly re-constructed feed table.

Daily feed table cleaning- about 25 mins each table adds up to 75 mins of scrubbing and washing.

Is this the best nest? No. Silver Silver L (F) and Blue Orange C didn't like the neighbours. Nov.2016

Where we work

The Friends of the OBP group undertakes work throughout the OBP’s range.

What we do

The objectives of the group are to:

Assist with the observation at Melaleuca (SW Tasmania)
Conduct migration and winter surveys
Assist with OBP habitat management projects
Raise awareness of the plight of the OBP
Raise funds to support the activities of volunteers and other recovery actions

Our volunteers spend two weeks observing Orange-bellied Parrots visiting the feed tables, recording individual colour-bands and nest observations. This data is collected for the department’s OBP Management Group to monitor survival and breeding success of wild and captive-bred release birds. Members of our group also conduct surveys during the northern migration (March-June) along the north-west coast and on King Island. We also assist our counterparts on the mainland with winter surveys. An increasingly important role of FOOBP is recovery program advocacy and fund raising. We are currently involved in some exciting new projects and, through a range of partnerships, we hope to raise much needed funds to support our volunteers and other parts of the recovery program.

PLEASE NOTE: APPLICATIONS FOR 2017/18 SEASON ARE CLOSED

A call for EOI will be posted in July 2018 so if you are interested in being involved in the OBP volunteer monitoring program

please tick the Friends of the OBP Branch box.