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Night Parrot recording(s?)

Subject: Night Parrot recording(s?)
From: "Peter Shute" pshute2
Date: Wed Jul 3, 2013 7:33 pm ((PDT))
It might be of interest to some here, if you haven't heard already, that an 
Australian birder has recently obtained photos and video of a Night Parrot, the 
first ever, apparently by using playback of a recording he'd made a few years 
earlier. The photos and videos were shown to an audience in Brisbane yesterday, 
but the recording, also the first ever, wasn't played.

Given that this species, seen only a few times since its discovery in the 
1800s, is nocturnal and spends most of its time at ground level in thick 
spinifex grass in remote parts of Australia, it would seem that knowing what it 
sounds like is essential to determining its range and how many there are. All 
we've had until now are the call's description from a century ago: a low, drawn 
out, double noted whistle.

It's not yet clear how good the recording is. According to this interview, it 
was made at a distance of 1.5km:
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/rare-night-parrot-found-in-western-australia/4795592
and it's also not clear whether more recordings were made during the encounter. 
Hopefully they were.

A bit more information here:
http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/mysterious-night-parrot-caught-on-film.htm
and here:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-07-03/man-claims-to-have-filmed-the-rare-australian-night-parrot/4796342

Peter Shute





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