A critically endangered regent honeyeater, released as part of a captive breeding program, has travelled a record 350 kilometres in only three months, delighting conservationists.
Birdlife Australia’s Regent Honeyeater Recovery Coordinator Mick Roderick said the bird’s long-distance travel highlighted that zoo-bred birds could thrive in the wild.
“Never before has a regent honeyeater been recorded flying so far, in so short a time … it’s quite remarkable,” Mr Roderick said.
The regent honeyeater is one of Australia’s rarest birds, with fewer than 300 thought to remain in the wild.
There is an ongoing breeding and release program involving Birdlife and other organisations to try to ensure the species’ future.
Last November, 50 regent honeyeaters were released in the New South Wales Lower Hunter Valley.
One of the birds released, a male named “OG-Bling”, was photographed in April at nearby Kurri Kurri, socialising with other zoo-bred and wild regent honeyeaters.
The bird was named after the orange and green-coloured plastic identifying bands on his left leg, and the “bling” of hot-pink and metal bands on his right leg.
Mr Roderick said in July, OG-Bling was spotted and photographed much further north at Red Rock, near Coffs Harbour, with several wild regent honeyeaters.
He said it was “really great news”, as regent honeyeaters needed to be able to travel large distances in search of flowering food trees.
“The released birds are very naive birds, raised in captivity, so to be able to survive in the wild, they need to be able to move around, which is what their wild cousins do,” Mr Roderick said.
“To see that a bird is not only surviving, but actually moving significant distances and … hanging out with wild birds, pretty much ticks all of the boxes.”
OG-Bling was photographed by avid birdwatcher and ornithologist Keith Fisher, who lives in Grafton and was holidaying in the Red Rock area.
Mr Fisher said he noticed the “bling” on the bird’s legs.
“The birdwatcher side of me was just thrilled, it’s amazing to see a regent honeyeater, it’s just wonderful; it also makes you want to cry as it’s such a precarious situation [for the species],” he said.
Mr Roderick said the previous distance record for a zoo-bred regent honeyeater was 470km, but that was achieved over a much longer time span.
He said in that case, a bird released in Chiltern in Victoria in 2017 later turned up in south-west Sydney in June 2019.
“This bird [OG-Bling] has blown the record out of the water,” he said.
Long-distance flight motivates conservationists
The regent honeyeater breeding program is a partnership between the NSW government’s Saving our Species program, Taronga Conservation Society Australia and Birdlife Australia.
Taronga Conservation Society’s Monique Van Sluys said OG-Bling’s long-distance travel was very encouraging.
