Swift Parrot

1. Bright green body with red and yellow face pattern and subtle blue crown patch

2. Bright red underwings and long, pointed red tail visible in flight

3. Sharp rattling calls and short, piercing squeaks

Swift Parrots feed mainly on nectar and pollen from flowering eucalypts, especially blue gums and black gums in Tasmania, supplemented by lerps, insects, fruits, berries, and seeds. They are highly nomadic in winter, moving to wherever food is abundant. Breeding occurs from October to January, with females laying 3–5 eggs in tree hollows usually 7–20 meters up in mature blue gums. Eggs are incubated for about 20 days; the nestling period is lengthy, up to 10 weeks.

Swift Parrots breed primarily along Tasmania's southeast coast, especially where Tasmanian Blue Gum (*Eucalyptus globulus*) and Black Gum (*Eucalyptus ovata*) are flowering. After breeding (September–January), they migrate across Bass Strait-often in small flocks during daylight-to winter in southeastern mainland Australia, especially central and southern Victoria, but also New South Wales, South Australia, and sometimes southern Queensland. Their winter distribution is unpredictable and follows the flowering of eucalypts, with important feeding sites in Box-Ironbark forests and remt woodlands.