Hi Tim,
Long-billed Corellas occur as feral populations along the whole of the NSW
coast with large flocks, up to 200 in the west of Sydney and some lower
eastern/southern suburbs, and on the Central Coast (Gosford/Wyong area),
smaller flocks occur elsewhere on the coast. Some parts of the coast also
have feral flocks of Little Corellas, Newcastle and again on the Cumberland
Plain west of Sydney are places where there are some 100+ flocks. It is
likely that the flocks in SE Queensland came from the NSW coastal flocks.
These flocks originated in the early 1980s when Long-billed Corellas which
used to be shot as pests on grain crops in the Sunraysia District/Western
District of Victoria were allowed to be captured instead and sold in pet
shops for $10 each. Some escaped but others were purchased and released by
well meaning people who perhaps did not differentiate between
Sulpher-crested Cockatoos and Long-billed Corellas.
Alan Morris
Records Officer and NPWS District Manager who remembers the influx into the
Sydney pet shops in 1983! NPWS could not stop in the importation because of
the ruling relating to interstate trade.
Timothy Hyde wrote:
> While on our way to spot the Alberts Lyrebird in the Lamington NP ,
> (very succesfull)
> we were surprised to see a large flock of Long-billed Corellas at Hope
> Island
> on the Gold Coast.
>
> Refering to our guide books they were well out of range, but according
> to a local birdo
> they've been established there for quite a while.
>
> --
> Timothy Hyde & Lynda Holmes
> Blue Mountains NSW
>
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