Stephen Garnett receives funding from the Australian Research Council. I am an active member of BirdLife Australia. If you did, there’s a decent chance the bird you saw lives nowhere but Australia.

It’s a small act with a big impact – your vote matters! From the unmistakable garble of magpies to the colourful flash of rainbow lorikeets, Australia’s native birds are as vibrant as the country they ...

An illustration of night parrots by Elizabeth Gould, completed in 1890. Public domain via Wikimedia Commons The night parrot—a brilliantly colored, nocturnal bird—once thrived in Australia’s outback.

When the patient arrives, it can barely move its body. Sometimes it can’t blink. Vibrant green wings falter as the parrot tries—and fails—to fly. A nurse props up the bird’s limp, violet-blue head on ...