Meet one of the world's rarest birds - the WESTERN GROUND PARROT


image courtesy Alan Danks

It is a heartbeat away from extinction - only 140 birds are thought to be left in the whole world. The majority of them survives in Western Australia's spectacular Cape Arid National Park on the state's South Coast.

Very few people know about the existence of the Western Ground Parrot and even fewer people have ever seen one. No nests have been found in more than 100 years and it was only 10 years ago when the bird was first photographed in the wild.


image courtesy Brent Barrett / DPaW

Known as Kyloring to the local Noongar people, this secretive parrot has rather unusual habits. It spends most of its life on the ground and only calls at dawn and dusk. Its whistle is similar to a boiling tea kettle.

Wildfires are a constant threat in its remote habitat  and feral predators present an enormous danger for this ground-dwelling bird.


EXTINCTION is a real possibility.

Enter the Friends of the Western Ground Parrot. We are a group of volunteers based in Western Australia determined to help save the Western Ground Parrot from extinction. Our mission is to raise the funds to achieve this goal. So far our fund-raising efforts have been somewhat hampered by the fact that only a few people seem to have ever heard about the Western Ground Parrot. Quite obviously we need to do something to change this.

We have teamed up with accomplished film-maker Jennene Riggs and with the support of the Recovery Team, we aim to produce a documentary about the race against time to save Western Australia's rarest bird. Jennene has already managed to film some footage – watch the clip above for some never-before-seen video of the Western Ground Parrot.

However, making a documentary costs money and we now need to raise funds so Jennene can continue with on-location filming. Hopefully, she will be able to capture some footage of Western Ground Parrots in the wild.

Once completed, we intend to sell "Secrets at Sunrise" to TV channels in Australia and Overseas introducing the Western Ground Parrot to the world and using any profits made from the documentary to support the Recovery Project which includes a dedicated captive breeding program at Perth Zoo.

And here is your chance to join us in our efforts to save the Western Ground Parrot. Support us so we can get this documentary made and tell the world about this cryptic parrot.

All donations of $2 and above go to the Western Ground Parrot Rescue Fund and are tax-deductible for Australian taxpayers.


image courtesy Alan Danks

Project Team

Film-making costs money. The funds will be used for

-   high - definition camera hire  ($17,000)
-   purchase of external hard drives to store footage ($1,000)
-   travel costs and expenditures of the film crew ($2,000)

Jennene Riggs will join a research group from the Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife on their survey trips to remote Cape Arid National Park. Filming the Western Ground Parrot in the wild will be tricky given the secretive nature of the bird as utmost care needs to be taken not to disturb the critically endangered parrots.