Two researchers doing field work on a forest floor in Tasmania.

Difficult Birds Research Group

The Difficult Bird Research Group (DBRG), led by Prof. Rob Heinsohn at the Fenner School, ANU, seeks to promote understanding of the ecology and conservation of Australia’s rarest and most elusive threatened bird species. Such species are often hard to find, occur in wild and rugged terrain, and move around the landscape, and are consequently put in the ‘too hard basket”; however the DBRG develop new cutting edge techniques that address the challenges posed by these species, and apply the knowledge gained to manage them more effectively.

label Research theme

Research themes

About

We are the Difficult Bird Research Group. We study Australia’s most endangered birds and are dedicated to understanding their ecology and conservation. Our research focuses on understanding the processes that threaten endangered birds, and we seek to identify the ways that we can intervene to prevent extinction.

We 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. Our ‘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 have not been available in the past to inform conservation decisions. That’s where we come in. We are developing cutting edge techniques to address the challenges posed by these species to research, and applying our findings to inform on ground management actions.

Members

Leader

Photo of Rob Heinsohn

Professor

Researcher

Laura Bussolini holds up binoculars to her eyes. She is wearing a green shirt and standing on a dusty road.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Grace Hodder holds a baby parrot in her hands. There is a small lake behind her and she wears an Akubra hat.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Thomas Hunt holding a parrot.

Research Assistant

Annie Kriesl holds two baby parrots/

Research Officer

George Olah holds a macaw in the rainforest.

Research Fellow

Giselle stands in a woodland environment holding superb parrot chicks.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

A researcher holds a superb parrot chick on his finger and smiles. He is wearing a red safety helmet.

Research Fellow

News

A regent honeyeater on a branch in the bush.

A hidden threat facing one of Australia’s most iconic birds has been uncovered in a new study led by researchers from the University of Copenhagen and Dr Ross Crates from Fenner.

Read the article
Researcher, George Olah, holds a macaw in his hands on the forest floor.

Dubbed "CSI, but for parrots", Dr George Olah is creating a forensic genomic toolkit which will help authorities to track the routes of illegally traded birds poached from the wild in Indonesia.

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Two juvenile swift parrots sit in the hands of a researcher. They are lime green in colour.

A new evaluation from ANU scientists of the number of swift parrots left in the wild has confirmed their population size is likely only a few hundred and declining rapidly. 

Read the article
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