On the Trail of Hooded Parrots in Pine Creek, Northern Territory

If you’ve been following The Wildlife Diaries, you know that I am crazy about parrots. So when I recently visited Darwin for a conference, I organized a side mission to the remote outback town of Pine Creek, which happens to be the best place in Australia to see the beautiful and elusive Hooded parrots.

In this post

Where Exactly Is Pine Creek?

Pine Creek is a tiny town between Darwin and Katherine in Australia’s Northern Territory. It sits along the Stuart Highway about 220 km southeast of Darwin, making it a convenient stop for people heading to places like Kakadu National Park or Katherine Gorge.

Pine Creek was originally founded in the 1870s during a gold rush. Workers constructing the Overland Telegraph Line discovered gold in the area, which led to a flood of miners and settlers. This boom left behind several historical sites, including restored buildings and mining artifacts.

Today, the town is a quiet smattering of houses, with Lazy Lizard Tavern and Pine Creek Railway Resort serving as the main hub of activity. But Pine Creek has a special thing going for it. The lawn sprinklers in front of the Lazy Lizard attract Hooded parrots (Psephotus dissimilis) to town from the surrounding savanna. They arrive in the late afternoon and roost in town overnight.

Meet the Hooded Parrot

Hooded parrots are endemic to the Northern Territory and have a relatively small range, roughly between Adelaide River and Mataranka. Finding them in the vast savanna is no mean task, which makes Pine Creek, with its artificial water sources, a rare birdwatching gem.

Hooded parrots are quite striking little birds. Makes have a black “hood” and brilliant turquoise-blue body, accented by green wings and bright yellow shoulder patches. Females are much more subtle but still pretty, with olive green feathers and soft blue highlights.

Hooded Parrots and Termites

Termite mound in Pine Creek — Termite mound at Pine Creek cemetery

What makes Hooded parrots particularly fascinating is their ecological relationships with other species. Unlike most parrots that nest in tree hollows, Hooded parrots make their homes in termite mounds. Yep, that’s right—these birds dig burrows in termite mounds, which offer the perfect protection and stable environment for raising their young.

And not any termite mound would do for Hooded parrots. These birds prefer mounds that are more than two meters tall (known as cathedral mounds) and those with a high level of termite activity.

The only other species of parrot that nests in termite mounds is the Golden-shouldered parrot in Cape York.

Seeing Hooded parrots when they dig the nests or raise their chicks during the breeding season takes a fair bit of coordination and luck. As a reference, according to this PhD study, Hooded parrots begin building nests in January, with peak activity in February and chicks fledging in April.

I was told that the best time to see Hooded parrots on termite mounds in the Pine Creek area is May. But since I was visiting in September, I wasn’t going to see the parrots nesting in any case.

Hooded Parrots and Moths

Another curious relationship Hooded parrots have is with Antbed parrot moths (Trisyntopa neossophila), which is also related to reproduction.

The female moth lays her eggs in the parrot’s nesting cavity inside the termite mound, timing it so that the eggs hatch alongside the baby Hooded parrots. When the moth’ larvae hatch, they create small tunnels at the base of the parrot’s cavity and feed on leftover nutrients in the birds’ feces.

To avoid getting eaten by the parrot chicks, the moth larvae spin a silk layer across the cavity floor. Once the juvenile parrots leave the nest, the larvae pupate in the cavity walls.

Watching Hooded Parrots in Pine Creek

I organized an overnight trip to Pine Creek with Christopher Spooner. The previous afternoon, I also took a boat tour with Christopher on Buffalo Creek in Darwin, mainly to see the adorable Little kingfisher and the super elusive Chestnut rail, but we saw many other species on the creek. You can find details and images in my post on Buffalo Creek.

On the morning of our Pine Creek tour, we spent some time looking for birds in the Botanic Gardens, at Lee Point and East Point Reserve until it became uncomfortably hot. This was our cue to start the long (225 km) drive to Pine Creek.

The drive took about 2.5 hours, and in the early afternoon, we arrived in town, checked in at the Lazy Lizard, and drove to Pine Creek cemetery and the water treatment plant to see if we could find Northern rosellas. We had no luck. It was the end of the dry season, and the land looked parched.

Hooded parrots at Pine Creek — Male and Female Hooded parrots

There isn’t much to see or do around Pine Creek, so we headed back to town and, within about half an hour, spotted the first flock of Hooded parrots. They flew into town and headed straight to the ornamental water feature at the front of Pine Creek Railway Reserve.

The birds seemed quite relaxed around people and mostly ignored locals walking past their drinking spot. There was only one birdwatching group in town that evening, so we managed to stay out of each other’s way, too.

More and more parrots arrived before dark, though they were harder to photograph in the fading light.

While strolling around the Water Gardens, which is a long and narrow urban park that runs through town, we spotted a pair of Red-winged parrots and some Red-collared lorikeets.

black flying fox in Pine Creek — Black flying fox

One of the trees in the gardens was occupied by a colony of Black flying foxes. There is also a colony of Ghost bats living on the outskirts of town at a place called Kohinoor adit, which would be cool to see. But we were in town for Hooded parrots, so we spent the sunset watching parrots rather than emerging bats.

The following morning, there were even more parrots in town. Walking out of Lazy Lizard to dozens of Hooded parrots congregating by the lawn sprinkler was the easiest birdwatching walk I’ve ever done.

Immature male hooded parrot in pine creek — Immature male enjoying the sprinkler

We sat down on the lawn in front of the sprinklers, and within a few minutes, we were surrounded by the parrots, some drinking from the puddles, others licking water droplets off the grass. As long as we didn’t move, the parrots didn’t mind our company. With only three of us out and about (we met a lady who knew nothing about the parrots but was very excited to watch them with us), it was a very tranquil experience.

From Pine Creek, we headed to Edith Falls to look for Gouldian finches and then drove back to Darwin during the hottest part of the day.

Staying at the Lazy Lizard

Lazy Lizard Tavern and Caravan Park in Pine Creek

Given how small and remote Pine Creek is, I wasn’t expecting much from Lazy Lizard, yet it turned out to be a lovely place to spend the night. It had a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere with a rustic charm that fit perfectly with the outback vibe (think recycled timber and corrugated iron).

Lazy Lizard seems to be the centre of activity in Pine Creek. The caravan park offers powered and unpowered sites for those travelling with their own setup and cabins for those who don’t. The cabins are very affordable, clean, and well-maintained. They also have lovely outdoor areas with comfy chairs, so you can watch the birds from your armchair with a mug of coffee in hand.

The best thing, of course, is that the Water Garden, where the Hooded parrots drink from the sprinklers, is right outside the Lazy Lizard. It’s a very convenient and atmospheric place to stay. Keep in mind though that the shop closes at 5 pm. The tavern is open until much later, of course.