The Swift Parrot’s Inspection

Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor) – Critically Endangered

Southeastern Australia

She is aware of the precarity

of every moment spent on the move.

The quest continues for a suitable

tree: one with an unassuming

entrance, preferably leading

to a deep space and wide floor;

a harbour for two or three eggs

and the fledglings to come.

Nectar is abundant but a fitting

shelter less so. On this inspection,

she is greeted with vacant ground,

felled trunks, a tree with a cavity

too visible to sugar gliders

and others coming for her.

Feeling the young inside her,

the search continues.