Orange-bellied parrot: best year in a decade for critically endangered bird

At least 40 parrots returned to a remote breeding site in Tasmania so far this year following intense efforts to boost numbers

Scientists are cautiously celebrating the best year in a decade for what may be the world's most critically endangered parrot after at least 40 birds returned to a breeding site in remote Tasmania.

Orange-bellied parrot numbers have fallen so sharply in recent years that scientists consider it at risk of extinction within five years. Just 23 birds arrived at the species' breeding site at Melaleuca, deep in the Tasmanian world heritage wilderness area, last spring.