Queer Bird Walk: Plenty Gorge Swift Parrot Hunt

Hello queer angels, divas and icons <3

Long time no see! As most people rug up and hunker down inside our terribly insulated Melbourne homes, Melbourne Queer Birders Collective is heading outside for our mid-winter bird walk series at Plenty Gorge Parklands in search of a very special visitor, the Critically Endangered Swift Parrot.

Swift by name and nature, Swift Parrots (a.k.a Swifties) are the world’s fastest-flying parrot species – and one of only a handful of migratory parrots. Each year, Swifties migrate from their Tasmanian breeding grounds to south-eastern mainland Australia, and a large flock has been hanging out in flowering blossom at Plenty Gorge. With as few as 750 birds remaining in the wild, this is an exciting opportunity to spot one of Australia’s rarest and most remarkable bird species in our own backyard, and a great way to cure your seasonal depression.

Spots are limited and usually fill up quickly (each walk is capped at 35 people), so make sure to register quickly if you'd like to come along!

If you’ve registered and can no longer attend, please cancel your order in Humanitix so we can release your spot to people on our waitlist.

What will we see?

We will focus on trying to pin down the visiting flock of Swift Parrots, but there are plenty of other birds at Plenty (!) Gorge.

With so many eucalypts in flower in the park, you can expect to spot an array of honeyeater species, including Yellow-faced, White-naped and, if we’re lucky, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters. Winter is also prime time for robins – most commonly Scarlet Robins, but we'll be keeping an eye out for Flame, Rose, and (a single visiting female) Pink Robin as well.

Noisy flocks of roving White-winged Choughs are likely to keep us entertained with their unhinged antics, and this is one of the best spots to find Weebill and Buff-rumped Thornbills close to Melbourne.

There are several different eBird hotspots scattered through the park, so the one below does not reflect the bird diversity of the entire area – it's just closest to where the Swift Parrots have been hanging out and where we will park our cars!

eBird hotspot: Plenty Gorge - Plenty Service Reservoir

When and where:

10:00 am at the Plenty Gorge Upper Carpark on Goldsworthy Lane – we will depart from this location. We would highly encourage you to arrive by car.

Don't continue along Goldsworthy Lane all the way to the Yellow Gum Park parking area, but rather park along the road shortly after turning off Memorial Drive. There's a street view of this parking area available here.

You can also park at the start of Mackelroy Track on Oatland Road and meet us by walking west from there following the route directions further below, but this area cannot handle large numbers of vehicles parking, so use this as a back-up if you get lost or need to meet us separately!

Access to the meeting point via public transport is challenging, but can be done (Oakley has done it!) via several odd combos of bus, train or tram routes and subsequent walks on foot. We will not be providing the routing to do this here, as it can be convoluted and requires additional time and physical exertion. You can take metropolitan Ubers/Didis to the parking site (and leave in one too, though be prepared for a decent wait time if the streets are quiet and consider walking up to the corner of Memorial Drive before booking).

If you would like to carpool to Plenty Gorge, please make a note in the relevant box when reserving your ticket. We will put people who nominate to carpool in contact with one another, but we cannot fully organise the carpooling for you or come to collect you on the day if your carpooling partner cancels.

This walk is taking place on Wurundjeri Country.

What to bring:

Binoculars and/or a camera if you have them (highly recommended!), sun and wet weather protection, lunch/snacks and plenty of water. While this isn't a long walk, the path is gritty and uneven in places, so please wear sensible footwear that will keep you comfy for a couple of hrs on the go!

Accessibility:

Plenty Gorge is not well-equipped for people with mobility needs, with a convoluted trail network and several unpaved, sloped and uneven trails. Accessibility and path grade vary wildly in different parts of the reserve and accessibility information is poorly outlined.

This walk does not require a high level of physical fitness, but please wear sensible footwear and assess whether you will be comfortable spending two hours walking outdoors. The walk from the carpark to and back from the Swift Parrot site will be between 1.5 to 4 km return, depending on which other birds we look around for, exactly where the parrots are feeding, weather conditions and the general enthusiasm of the group.

Bathroom facilities:

There are toilets a bit further along the road at the Yellow Gum Park carpark, which is busier and more popular with the public. The drive from Goldsworthy Lane to this carpark is very short, so make your way down there before or after the walk.

Route:

A map of Plenty Gorge is available here, but the trail route is not visible on this map. The spot we will be heading to from the carpark is here, and an AllTrails map of the extra trails we may or may not look along is attached here.

We will begin at the meeting point and head south towards Mackelroy Track and an adjoining unnamed trail, along which the Swift Parrots have been seen feeding in flowering eucalypts reliably for several weeks. These trails hug a fenceline of a largely cleared private property. After finding the Swift Parrots, we will either head directly back to the parking area, wander along the Mackelroy Track for a time or complete a moderate loop around the Clear Hill Track before returning to the car, depending on how the group is feeling. Of course, you are welcome to leave at any time or spend the rest of your day exploring other parts of Plenty Gorge, at your own risk.

Inclusivity:

Melbourne Queer Birders Collective has a no-tolerance policy for any homophobic, transphobic or racist behaviour. Our events are not catered towards young children and conversations are liable to include both adult and queer-specific themes. If you are attending with a partner, partners, or a carer, please ensure that you register each person individually.

Image credits:

Swift Parrot by 0ystercatcher on Flickr downloaded 9th July 2026 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 license). The image has not been modified for use in the banner and Melbourne Queer Birders Collective does not collect any financial compensation for our activities.

Melbourne Queer Birders Collective logo supplied by our dear friend Iona Julian-Walters <3