The chairman, Lou Dall’Est, opened the Wednesday 22nd April 2026 meeting
of the Society at 8:05 pm, welcoming the 35 members in attendance.
Main Feature:
Chris Farrell had the pleasure of introducing this month’s feature presenter,
David Carr, who spoke about his experiences with the Swift Parrot. David
noted that in Aviculture this pretty little parrot seemed to be kept in limited
numbers, compared to most others. In Victoria there are approximately 80 birds kept by 10 aviculturists, with the majority of numbers being located in NSW.
In the wild, it is estimated that there are as few as 700 pairs, and is considered critically endangered. The Swift Parrot’s distribution is along the eastern fringe of Australia, extending from the very southern tip of Queensland down through New South Wales, Victoria into Tasmania, the species seems to prefer a cool climate and travels to Tasmania to breed.
It was suggested that one explanation for this behaviour may extend back
many hundreds of years when Tasmania was part of the mainland.
David keeps the Swift Parrot in a fully roofed aviary and flocks them in the off season, hence allowing the birds to select their partners. The Swift Parrot diet provided by David includes Nectar and Lorikeet mix, peas and corn, egg and biscuit, and finch soft food. David also provides lots of green food, apple and other fruits, millet heads, saltbush and mealworms; he also notes that they will consume seed as well. They are routinely fed in the morning allowing them to consume the betterquality food, before the lower quality seed etc. In the Spring they get a larger variety of fruits along with seeding grasses.
One thing that David stressed, was the need to be diligent around monitoring
the temperature in the aviary, as they are very heat sensitive. A nest of young can be easily lost if the temperature is over 33c for a considerable number of hours. David said it is possible to remove the entire nest box to a controlled environment and return it to the aviary once the temperature is more forgiving, rather than take the young out.
One particular trait of the young fledged birds is that they frighten very easily, and that it is wise to put something up on either side of the aviary to lessen the impact of birds flying into the walls, causing injury or death.
After taking questions from the floor David was thanked for sharing his
experiences with the audience by Keith Bradford and the group enjoyed supper and conversation.
General Business:
A 20 kg Bag of seed donated by Dandenong Stockfeeeds was the major prize of the night, won by Tas Graham.
1: Raffles details:
A number of donations were made for the raffle, including prizes supplied by many of our members. As always we are most grateful to the donors and thank them for their contribution. Congratulations to the winners. Some winners and donors wishing to be acknowledged include: Jasper Keith ; John Vella,Tas Graham. (Any errors remain the Secretary’s).
2: Treasurer’s Report:
The Treasurer’s Report was posted at the side of the room. Moved Warwick
Remington, Seconded Peter Booth, Carried.
3: May Program:
Gary Pegg will be presenting on Golden Conures
4: New members:
Welcomed by Lou and invited to speak to members if they require any help.
We were also pleased to have Neil Creighton from Western Australia attend
our meeting.
5: Lost and Found:
None.
6: Service Items:
Tom Hobbs was on hand to provide the members with a number of service
items available at the side of the meeting room.
7: Other Business:
Mark Cameron addressed the meeting to explain the creation of the Petition to Protect Birdkeeping in Victoria, in response to the Wildlife Act Review.
Members were urged to sign the Petition, available on the front table or go on-line and complete, to register their support.
The meeting closed at 9:18 with supper prepared by Tas Graham, enjoyed as
members mingled.
Kevin Gadsden, Secretary
Avicultural Society of Australia Inc.