Difficult Bird Research Group

The Difficult Bird Research Group study Australia’s most endangered birds and are dedicated to understanding their ecology and conservation. Their research focuses on understanding the processes that threaten endangered birds, and they seek to identify the ways that we can intervene to prevent extinction. The Regent Honeyeater and Swift Parrot lost considerable habitat during the 2019/20 Australian Bushfires.

The Difficult Bird Research Group are based at the Australian National University with a focus on researching and conserving endangered species that pose major challenges to traditional models of research and conservation. Their ‘difficult birds’ are all extremely endangered, hard to find, occur in wild and rugged terrain, and move around the landscape. This means that although information to protect these species is desperately needed, strong data has not been available in the past to inform conservation decisions. That’s where they come in. They are developing cutting edge techniques to address the challenges posed by these species to research, and applying their findings to inform on ground management actions.