New site of critically endangered Tasmanian species found A group of bushwalkers walking in remote southwest Tasmania has discovered a new population of a critically endangered plant, King’s lomatia.

Well, I guess this is my first ever piece of breaking news - probably the biggest rare plant story in Australia this year. Over at @tasinquirer.bsky.social.

tasmanianinquirer.com.au/news/very-ex...

ANU's $125 million budget improvement shows financial crisis overstated, job cuts unnecessary, says union | Region Canberra The ANU's staff union has seized on the university's much-improved budget position, calling the controversial redundancy program designed to save…

ANU's financial crisis overstated, job cuts unnecessary 👀 region.com.au/anus-125m-bu...

An adult female kākāpō feeding a chick in a nest. Credit: Andrew Digby

#kakapo Esperance with chick Elsie-A2-2026 on Whenua Hou. At a month old the chicks start to get coloured feathers and males will weigh around 1kg - not far off the mother's weight. But she's still less than halfway through raising them in the nest! #kakapo2026 #conservation #birds #wildlife

Rot, rancour and redundancy: Genevieve Bell's ANU tenure shows accountability isn't really that boring Even by global standards, the rapid unplanned disassembly of Australian National University has been disturbing. And, yes, occasionally even funny.

As Rick Morton @squigglyrick.bsky.social writes, the rapid unplanned disassembly of ANU has been disturbing. And, yes, occasionally even funny. www.crikey.com.au/2026/04/14/a...

what a cluster, in other words

The swift parrot’s distinctive call was recorded dozens of times in a patch of Tasmanian forest. Then the forest was logged Scientists estimate the endangered bird’s population has slumped to about 750. But the logging agency responsible for clearing its habitat said it acted lawfully

🚨Exposed: A major Bunnings timber supplier has been linked to logging in critically endangered swift parrot habitat 🦜

#Bunnings claims it’s committed to Responsible Timber Sourcing, yet this revelation could mean what’s on the shelves is timber made of critical habitat for the #swiftparrot. #wildoz

@paleodnaunizar.bsky.social @dnatimetravel.bsky.social @acadresearch.bsky.social @kingsforensics.bsky.social @natcomms.nature.com

On the ground in Tanimbar! 🦜 Alongside our local team & the wildlife police, we’re surveying locally captured parrots kept as pets. Testing these birds for diseases is a vital part of our research programme, helping to safeguard both people and wild parrot populations. 🌿🇮🇩

So so cool great paper!!

The swift parrot’s distinctive call was recorded dozens of times in a patch of Tasmanian forest. Then the forest was logged Scientists estimate the endangered bird’s population has slumped to about 750. But the logging agency responsible for clearing its habitat said it acted lawfully

Lots of things going on but here's another story published today

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

It is great to be back in the Moluccas, Indonesia, this time conducting a research project on parrots, genetics, and the wildlife trade. I’m grateful for all my local collaborators and the funders (ARC and Fundación Loro Parque) to make this investigation a reality.
@arc-gov-au.bsky.social

Orange-bellied Parrot - Neophema chrysogaster - Birds of the World Species accounts for all the birds of the world.

On Friday @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social published our literature review on orange-bellied parrots!

Everything you wanted to know about these adorable bird; plus, some very cute videos I’ve accumulated over the years 😍
Free to read!

birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/...

Swift Parrot - Lathamus discolor - Birds of the World Species accounts for all the birds of the world.

In nice news, we recently published a literature review for swift parrots with @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social

read all about everything you ever wanted to know about swift parrots for free 💚

birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/...

Very cool congratulations! super relevant to our orange-bellied parrot work

So cool 💙

🚨NEW SCIENCE ALERT!🚨Read our new, open-access publication in Scientific Reports (@nature.com) describing #biofluorescence in #cassowary casques! Very excited to unveil this after keeping it secret for 5 years⬇️
www.nature.com/articles/s41...
NYITCOM @akiopteryx.bsky.social @jonathanberman.bsky.social

Superb parrots are simply gorgeous

This brood of blue-winged parrots are all tucked up in a hollow fence post - when the nest is right it doesn’t necessarily matter to them if it’s not in a tree 🤷‍♂️😍

How to Bring a Bird’s Song Back From the Edge of Extinction

The need to preserve animal culture in conservation efforts. 🪶

Gift link.

Watch this cool video about my mate George’s new research! It’s nice seeing in full something I’d heard about in snippets for a long time. Such cool work

Ancient DNA reveals a pre-Inca trade of live parrots YouTube video by Wildlife Messengers

Parrots, ancient DNA, and a long trek across the Andes! 🦜🧬🏔️ Check out the video summary for our latest @natcomms.nature.com paper by @wildlifemessengers.org. We discovered pre-Inca societies transported live Amazonian parrots from the rainforest to the Pacific coast: youtu.be/Vb5eoTaGLO0

Huge thanks to Prof. Izumi Shimada and my amazing co-authors for this incredible cross-disciplinary journey fusing #ecology, #genomics, and #archaeology.

@paleodnaunizar.bsky.social @dnatimetravel.bsky.social @acadresearch.bsky.social @anufennerschool.bsky.social @kingsforensics.bsky.social

Isotopes showed the birds survived the trade and lived on the coast, eating a diet of maize (possibly fertilised by seabird guano). 🌽🌊 This proves pre-Inca regional states managed vast, complex trade networks centuries before the Inca Empire.

🧬 Using ancient DNA and stable isotopes from 600–1,000-year-old feathers found at Pachacamac, Peru, we found these birds were possibly wild-caught in the rainforest and carried over 500 km across 3,000-metre mountain passes. 🏔️ A great logistical feat in pre-Inca cultures!

Ancient DNA and spatial modeling reveal a pre-Inca trans-Andean parrot trade - Nature Communications Here, the authors combine ancient DNA, stable isotopes, and computational modeling to study colorful feathers from a pre-Incan tomb in Peru. They identify four species of parrots, which were likely ca...

🦜🏔️ How did vibrant Amazonian parrot feathers end up in a desert tomb on the Pacific coast of Peru 1,000 years ago? Our new paper on @natcomms.nature.com reveals they didn't just trade feathers, pre-Inca societies transported live macaws and parrots across the Andes!👇 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

There is No Consensus on Biological Sex At this critical moment when misinformation about sex is being applied to policy globally, scientific clarification on the definition of biological sex is valuable. Here, we evaluate the primary appr...

New paper out in ecology letters! with @andylee.bsky.social @allydefduf.bsky.social

We synthesized the active debate on how scientists define sex, including limitations and assumptions. We believe this discussion will lead to more accurate science.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Wild-born birds recruited to teach critically endangered regent honeyeaters their lost songs Researchers hope restoring the original song will improve breeding prospects for birds released into the wild

A breakdown of how these singing classes work, and how you graduate. @teamswiftparrot.bsky.social

A regent honeyeater sits on a branch.

Fenner School scientists from the Difficult Bird Research Group have rescued the lost song of the regent honeyeater, offering new hope for the survival of the critically endangered bird: bit.ly/4l2D5Cc @teamswiftparrot.bsky.social

Social and ecological factors associated with innovation in urban sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) Cities are challenging places for wildlife, but some species, like sulfur-crested cockatoos, adapt by finding new ways to feed and solve problems. We studi

New paper alert! 🦜

We gave wild cockatoos puzzle boxes across Canberra’s urban gradient. The finding? Urban birds approach faster, but are not better solvers.

Our results suggest that urbanization shapes neophobia independently from cognitive performance. Read it here:

doi.org/10.1093/behe...

hooley dooley