One of the most mysterious and legendary birds on Earth — a small, cryptic, ground-dwelling parrot from Australia that managed to vanish from human knowledge for more than a century. Stocky, short-tailed, and mottled in yellow-green and black, it blends perfectly into the spinifex grasslands and desert shrubs it calls home. At just around the size of a small pigeon, it doesn’t look extraordinary at first glance — but its story absolutely is.

For decades, the night parrot was considered possibly extinct. After 1912, no confirmed live bird was recorded for generations. Its elusiveness earned it a near-mythical status among birders and scientists, with stories of fleeting shapes, strange calls in the desert, and unconfirmed sightings whispered like folklore. Everything changed when, in the 2010s, the species was finally rediscovered in remote inland Australia — one of the most exciting ornithological events in modern history.

The night parrot is superbly adapted to the harsh interior. It hides deep within dense spinifex clumps, where its streaked camouflage and secretive habits make it nearly impossible to spot. The bird is mostly nocturnal, emerging at night to feed on seeds and plant shoots. Its flight is low and swift, and it rarely travels far from the safety of cover. During the day, it remains silent and motionless, relying entirely on its ability to disappear into the landscape.

Its breeding habits are equally hard to study. What is known suggests that it nests on the ground within sheltered vegetation, laying eggs in well-hidden scrapes lined with fine grasses. This makes the species extremely vulnerable to introduced predators such as feral cats and foxes, as well as to wildfires and habitat degradation. Because night parrots depend so heavily on intact spinifex ecosystems, even small disturbances can have large impacts.

Distribution

Country

Population est.

Status

Year

Comments

Australia

40-500

Official estimate

CR

2021