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 our group are to:

Conduct migration and winter surveys in various locations from Strahan to Woolnorth and on King Island when funds are available.
Raise awareness of the plight of the OBP.
Raise funds 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.

The group is overseen by a committee that is elected at an Annual General Meeting each September.

Wildcare news articles about our work are at the bottom of this page. In addition, you can read the transcript of a talk by Marianne Gee at Wildcare's AGM in May 2025.

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.

OBP monitoring at Melaleuca

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 other than distributing information about the expression of interest process when it becomes available.

2026 migration surveys

The dates and locations for the 2026 migration surveys are still being decided, but the list below is fairly settled. The weekend of 4-5 April (when we would ideally like have a survey) is in the Easter break.

14-15 March at Strahan, Trial Harbour & Granville Harbour - registration closes 1 March
21-22 March at Strahan, Trial Harbour & Granville Harbour - registration closes 8 March
28-29 March at Arthur River
Two days (dates to be confirmed) between 30 March and 9 April at Sisters Beach
11-12 April at Woolnorth - dependent on someone volunteering to lead the survey
23-30 April on King Island* - registration to receive the call for expressions of interest document closes 31 January. This survey was made possible thanks to a grant from the Tasmanian Nature Conservation Fund (TNCF)
10-11 October at Woolnorth
17-18 October at Arthur River

*Note that seven members will be selected to take part through an Expression of Interest (EoI) process during February 2026. If interested, you need to register by 31 January to receive the call for expressions of interest. Full details are available through Wildcare's events page, Applicants will be informed of the outcome of their EoI by 22 February.

Other members of the group will be welcome to join the survey by self-funding any travel and accommodation needed.

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

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.

Friends of the OBP items in Wildcare's online shop
Friends of the OBP shop via Redbubble
You can either browse all products from the home page or navigate through "collections" at the top of the page.

On occasion, we have a stall at a market or festival.

Sunday 18 January (8am to 1.30pm) - Evandale Sunday Market at the Falls Park, Logan Road, Evandale. Find us outside in the FoOBP gazebo.
Sunday 25 January (10am to 2pm)- Kingston Community Market at the Kingston Senior Citizens Club, 35 Redwood Road, Kingston. Find us inside the hall.
Sunday 1 February (9.30am to 1pm) - South Arm Community Market at the South Arm Community Centre, 9 Calverton Place, South Arm. Find us outside in the FoOBP gazebo.

We also receive contributions to our fundraising through the "Support Friends of the OBP" portal that is on our webpage. Note that donations made through the "Donations" tab at the top of any of Wildcare's webpages go to the Tasmanian Nature Conservation Fund.

Contact us

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

Friends of the OBP

Braving dire West Coast weather forecasts - FoOBP Autumn Survey 2021