Riddle.
When is an orange bellied parrot not an Orange-bellied Parrot.
Read on for the answer.
I was all ready to go down to the Swamp Reserve this morning to do more weed control, when an email came in from Peter with a report of two possible Orange-bellied Parrots in a garden at Heyfield. Thirty seconds after phoning him I was in the vehicle heading over there with high hopes. After picking him up we went to the property, and with cameras at the ready went around to the back of the house to where the birds had been seen a couple of hours before. Sure enough, there was one small green parrot feeding on wireweed, and the shutters started clicking as we gradually edged closer and closer. It was a very co-operative bird, we got quite close and in 15 minutes my memory card was full. The orange belly was very noticeable, and we both thought we’d finally found one of these extremely rare and endangered parrots after so many fruitless searches at Jack Smith Lake. Neither of us had previously seen one in the flesh, so it was going to be an addition to our life lists, and we were also pleased that we would be able to report its food plant as well. The bird finally got sick of us spying on it and flew off, leaving us to go back to Peter’s for coffee, basking in the glow of our achievement. After telling the property owner that she was now famous and going into the record books, I returned home to email details and some pictures through to Birds Australia and the DSE. In a few minutes I had a return email, and when I opened it I learnt that our life lists were going to stay right where they were, it wasn’t an OBP. The experts had checked out the pictures, and here’s the
Answer to the riddle.
When it’s an aviary escapee, a mutant Turquoise Parrot, the trace of blue on the face is a give away, plus general colouration.
Back to earth with a thud! Never mind, we learn from our mistakes, and perhaps we’re one step closer to actually finding a genuine OBP, maybe during the July count, we’ll certainly be trying hard to regain a bit of credibility! I was in better form at the Swamp this afternoon, a quarter of an acre of weeds are now lying on the ground and the trees we planted last winter are looking good. I hope that parrot gets indigestion. 
I thought you were going say “… when it’s a trumped up corella” a la Kennett.
Hi Duncan,
We have seen OBP’s at Melaleuca, SW Tassie, and can see how this could have been mistaken for one! The Orange belly seems quite odd for a Turquoise mutant - maybe it was crossed with an OBP??
The Orange belly is a bit duller, more diffuse, and more widespread than on the genuine ones we saw. Also, its a generally duller overall green than the OBP. I couldn’t be sure about the blue around the face - will have to go back and re-check the photos I took.
Anyway, bad luck! I hope your next OBP excitement turns out to be the real thing!
John & Shirley Tongue
Hobart
Good one Snail.
Thanks for the feedback John, so far we’ve never seen one in the flesh over here, and we thought that perhaps our luck had changed. I must admit that the thought of an escapee didn’t cross my mind, couldn’t see past that orange belly!
Isn’t that always the way! When you think things are going your way, they fall apart…and when all looks bleak, the Sun shines out of a gap in the clouds and something you dreamed of comes true. You must have a few stories of when you thought you were seeing an everyday bird or animal variety-but it turned out to be something new/unusual/or rare…Pray tell?
Rarities are the exception Jesse, it’s usually the other way around. However occasionally it happens, and there’s an account of another parrot surprise here.
http://bencruachan.org/blog/?p=249