The highlight for 2021 for our Life Sciences Manager, Lisa Tuthill, is the success of the Orange-bellied Parrot (OBP) mainland release training.
Moonlit Sanctuary trained a group of 12 Orange-bellied Parrots to recall on cue in a pre-release aviary as part of the OBP Mainland Release Project.
They were trained to recall to the automatic feeders with an inbuilt auditory cue.
The parrots were released in Western Port Bay to attract wild migrating parrots into suitable winter habitat.
The parrots were fitted with tiny VHF transmitters on the base of their tail. Moonlit staff carried out daily radio tracking to monitor the birds post release and record observations on their foraging behaviour.
Four of the released birds were joined by a wild migrant juvenile female, the first OBP recorded on the coast of Western Port Bay since 1984!
This release was delivered by Moonlit Sanctuary as part of the mainland release program in conjunction with the Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning and Zoos Victoria.
