MELBOURNE, Oct. 7 (Xinhua) -- Experimental nesting boxes which act as "safe havens" could save a critically endangered bird species, Australian researchers have found.
Scientists have been buoyed by the discovery of eggs belonging to the swift parrot, a bird that breeds in Tasmania and migrates to New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, in nesting boxes on Bruny Island off Tasmania's southeast coast.
Dr Dejan Stojanovic, an expert on the birds and member of the team that set up the 300 breeding boxes, said the discovery was a turning point in the fight to save the bird. Fewer than 1,000 breeding pairs of the parrot remain.
Stojanovic said the boxes, which are placed high in trees provide a safe place for the parrots to lay their eggs so they won't be taken by predators, had been an overwhelming success.
"Checking nests in the last couple of days and 11 out of the 40 boxes we've checked have swift parrots in them, including a discovery that one of those boxes contained six eggs and another has four eggs," Stojanovic told the ABC on Friday.
"It's going to be a bonanza for this time of year and we're thrilled."
The Federal Government reclassified the swift parrot as "critically endangered" in May following logging of native Tasmanian forests which destroyed much of their habitat.
Henry Cook, the leader of the campaign, said the project relied heavily on crowdfunding and volunteers due to the small amount of grant money made available to the type of project.
"If you were trying to go through a grant you have got some money to do a pilot study, but not go all out like we did," Cook told the ABC on Friday.
"We had no idea whether or not they'd use the boxes, but we just hoped they would and, of course, they have."
Stojanovic said more boxes would be placed on Bruny Island - where there are no sugar gliders, the birds' main predator - but there was no guarantee the parrots would return to the area next breeding season.
"They're a nomad. They never nest in the same place twice unless there's enough food to sustain them," he said. "Unfortunately the trees they feed on flower irregularly.
"Bruny Island is especially important because there's no sugar gliders here so these boxes will always stay on Bruny because it's going to be a safe place."
