Where we work

Friends of the Orange-bellied Parrot (OBP) group works across the OBP's range with a focus on Tasmania's west coast, King Island and Melaleuca.

What we do

The objectives of the group are to:

Conduct migration and winter surveys in various locations from Strahan to Woolnorth. Read about our search for OBPs on King Island in the autumn of 2024 made possible by a grant from the Tasmanian Nature Conservation Fund.
Raise awareness of the plight of the OBP.
Raise funds (including through our online shop) to support the activities of volunteers and other recovery actions.
Help support the monitoring program at Melaleuca (SW Tasmania) including working bees.
Assist with any habitat management projects.

Members of our group conduct a number of annual migration surveys on the west and north-west coasts. Dates and locations for surveys during 2025 are:

15-16 March at Strahan, Trial Harbour & Granville Harbour
22-23 March at Strahan, Trial Harbour & Granville Harbour
5-6 April at Arthur River and Woolnorth windfarms
12-13 April at Arthur River and Woolnorth windfarms
18-25 April on King Island*

*The King Island survey will be filled through Expressions of Interest rather than by registration. Download the call for Expressions of Interest (closes on 22-11-2024). This survey has been made possible through a grant from the Tasmanian Nature Conservation Fund. The other surveys will be added to Wildcare's Events Calendar eight or nine weeks before they are due to start.

An increasingly important role of Friends of the OBP is recovery program advocacy and fund raising. We are currently involved in some exciting new projects.

Through a range of partnerships, we hope to raise much needed funds to support our volunteers and other parts of the recovery program.

Volunteers with Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania (NRE Tas) observe Orange-bellied Parrots visiting the feed tables, recording individual leg bands and nest observations. This data is collected for the department's OBP Program staff to monitor survival and breeding success of wild and captive-bred release birds. While Friends of the OBP may assist the NRE OBP Program in various ways, we have no direct involvement with their volunteer program.

Scroll down for research papers and news articles about OBPs, with video footage at the very bottom of the page.

Visit the gallery to view images of the Friends of the OBP in action.

Visit branch files to see newsletters from the OBP Recovery Team and other PDFs including links to OBP news, research papers and video footage.

Accommodation at Melaleuca

If you are a member of the Friends of the OBP and are selected by NRE as a volunteer for the OBP Summer Monitoring Program, member accommodation at Melaleuca may be available to you.

To request Friends of the OBP accommodation at Melaleuca please email friends.of.the.obp@gmail.com.

For all other enquiries about any aspect of volunteer work through NRE's OBP Program, including monitoring OBPs at Melaleuca or assisting at the OBP captive breeding facility near Hobart, please email volunteering@nre.tas.gov.au

Our contacts

friends.of.the.obp@gmail.com Marianne Gee, President and representative to the National OBP Recovery Team.

Fundraising

Friends of the OBP receives income from two online shops with 100% of profits on our merchandise supporting efforts to save the critically endangered Orange-bellied Parrot and supporting the work of volunteer OBP monitors at Melaleuca.

Wildcare shop
Birds of Melaleuca 2025 Calendar, OBP tote bags, Birdlife Tamania book, OBP wooden models, Christmas cards, coaster sets, Tasmanian Birds playing cards. Sales of the handmade OBP plushy assists a different Wildcare group.
Friends of the OBP shop
You can either browse all products from the home page or navigate through "collections" at the top of the page.
Here's the link to each collection: T-shirts & hoodies, mugs & coasters, phone cases, tech & stationery (stickers, mouse pads & laptop skins, notebooks, greeting cards), cushions & blankets, bags (totes, drawstring bags), aprons, wall art (posters, prints), dresses & scarves, and face masks. Most items are printed in Australia as they are ordered and then delivered by Australia Post (drawstring bags, laptop skins and dresses are printed in the US).

Wildcare Groups