Night Parrot

Pezoporus occidentalis

John Gould was the first to describe the species, in 1861.

Pezoporus is the Greek for walking or going on foot; occidentalis is from the Latin occidens (western), a reference to the locality of the first specimen to be described, which was collected in the west of Australia (near Mt Farmer).

John Gould (artist), Henry Constantine Richter (lithographer), Geopsittacus occidentalis (Nocturnal Ground-Parrakeet) 1869

Author’s note: This illustration is the first published of the species.

As John Gould was aware, the Aboriginal people of the Gawler Ranges district of South Australia called the Night Parrot myrrlumbing for the sound of its whistling note.

William T. Cooper, Night Parrot (Geopsittacus occidentalis) 1971 

(adult male)

Author’s note: The Night Parrot has almost become the stuff of legend. Only two dozen specimens are known from museums around the world and the bird itself has not definitely been seen for decades. Twice though, in 1990 and again in 2006, the body of a dead Night Parrot was discovered by an inland roadside, providing tantalising evidence of the species’ continued existence. Then, to much fanfare, in 2013 a live parrot was photographed and captured on video somewhere in south-western Queensland—the first photographs of the species and the first confirmed live bird since the late 1800s. Events are still to unfold.

Roland Green, Geopsittacus occidentalis (Night-Parrot)
between 1916 and 1917

Author’s note: The Night Parrot is the only truly nocturnal parrot in Australia, although other parrots, notably Bourke’s Parrot, can be active after dark.