Rare Night Parrot’s Unique Lopsided Ears Give It Keen Hearing

Acouple years ago, I shared with you a scientific report that Australia’s nocturnal night parrot, Pezoporus occidentalis, cannot see well at night (more <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/grrlscientist/2020/06/17/australias-night-parrots-cant-see-at-night/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">here</a>). If this parrot can’t see well, how does it manage to remain so elusive? The secretive night parrot lives in the arid inland region of Australia, and thus, is very difficult to study in the field. This species is classified as Critically Endangered under IUCN criteria because the number of mature individuals is estimated to be somewhere between 40–500 (best estimate: 200), its population is severely fragmented, and it is likely declining (<a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22685237/211825128" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">ref</a>). For these reasons, we just don’t know much about the night parrot’s biology, including how it navigates at night. Although that earlier study that I shared with you concluded that night parrots probably have similar visual abilities to day-active parrots, its skull anatomy was not investigated, leaving the question open as to how does it navigate at night? <a href="https://medium.com/gardening-birding-and-outdoor-adventure/rare-night-parrots-unique-lopsided-ears-give-it-keen-hearing-8e0534570d8f">Click Here</a>