5th February 2024 | 

Each summer every Swift Parrot in the world flies to Tasmania to breed, looking for a safe hollow to lay their eggs and raise their chicks...

There are only ever a small fraction of breeding sites available to the Swift Parrots each year. The flowering patterns can tell scientists where in Tasmania the birds will breed.

Landcare Tasmania's recent Know Your Local Patch event was run on 1st Feb 2024 with Dover Landcare Group and local watercolour artist Anna Arden-Wong to learn about and celebrate the beautiful, yet critically endangered, Swift Parrot.

Image: Landcare Tasmania's Education Coordinator (L) Bianca Burford and artist Anna Arden-Wong (R) 

Twenty enthusiastic children participated in the event, honing their artistic skills while gaining insights into the critically endangered Swift Parrot - with thanks to informative specimens provided by TMAG!

This special school holiday event offered a unique blend of education and creativity. Using watercolours thanks to Artery, attendees used nature as their inspiration to create a wonderful variety of works. Everyone was proud to take home their masterpieces at the end of the day.

Image: Diverse appreciations of nature! Photos by Bianca Burford.

"A highlight was hearing the children describe their artworks and show that they are passionate about protecting the Swift Parrot and its habitat" said Bianca Burford, Education Coordinator. "Children spoke about keeping the Swift Parrot habitat safe, making sure they have old tree hollows to nest in and trying to think up creative ways to keep the sugar gliders away from the nesting hollows."

Know Your Local Patch is all about fostering a love for the environment among children and young people. What better way to do this than to focus on a species that is critically endangered, has its breeding ground local to the Dover community and fosters connections with local Landcare Groups? Overall this was a very successful workshop and we look forward to running more holiday activities this year. 

Gallery

This event is part of our Education Program and is funded by the Department of Premier and Cabinet under the Premier’s Fund for Children and Young People.  

Thank you to TMAG for their support for our "Mini Swift Parrot Museum" at this event. 

Thank you to Artery for the support in acquiring art supplies for this event.