The rare bird presumed extinct – until rediscovered in Queensland four years ago – has now been photographed in Western Australia.
Four birdwatchers from Broome have photographed one of Australia’s most mysterious birds, the night parrot. It is the first verified sighting of the bird in over 100 years, following a series of unverified sightings and failed ecological surveys.
According to a report by ABC News, the team camped out listening for the calls of the nocturnal bird in a habitat that they had identified after pouring over detailed ariel maps.
“The night before, we actually heard the birds, which sounded very unusual to us actually. We couldn’t sleep, we were just pondering the question: ‘what was making this noise?'” said Nigel Jackett, a warden at the Broome Bird Observatory, in the same ABC report.
“The next day we walked out into that area and one just burst out from under our feet from the spinifex.”
In that moment, one of the team members, Bruce Greatwich, managed to capture a photo – the first confirmed sighting in over a century.
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