Description
Swift Parrots breed only in Tasmania and then fly across Bass Strait to forage on the flowering eucalypts in open box–ironbark forests of the Australian mainland. While on the mainland, they are nomadic, spending weeks or months at some sites and only a few hours at others, determined by the supply of nectar. During dry years, when the eucalypts’ flowering is poor, Swift Parrots are forced to travel far and wide to find sufficient food, and may congregate into large flocks at sites where it is available.
