Rare parrot flies north in search of food

Photograph reproduced from Wikipedia under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License. 

Birdwatchers in mainland Australia are being treated to a rare sight: flocks of swift parrots have been spied in south-east New South Wales.

The species, which breeds on the island state of Tasmania, is endangered with only about 1,000 pairs remaining in the wild. The birds normally migrate between Tasmania and the west of the Great Dividing Range (the mountain range that runs along the eastern seaboard), but scientists believe the drought has forced them to migrate further north than usual in search of food.

You can find out more via this story on the ABC news site.