
The night parrot, Australia's most elusive bird - oska
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-02-10/night-parrot-chase/10612496
======
codezero
If, like, me, you were more interested in understanding why these findings
were brought into question, there's another article here:
[https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-10-12/night-
parrot-...](https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-10-12/night-parrot-
australian-wildlife-conservancy-evidence-in-doubt/10364842)

Someone may correct me if I'm wrong, but the night parrot is known to exist in
some places in Australia, but this is about a specific location in Southern
Australia.

The evidence that they are there, are a few photos of a nest, which people
think contains plaster eggs, not real ones.

~~~
h0l0cube
A friend of mine is in the Australian bird watching community, and tells me
the man in question is regarded to be both unscrupulous and litigious (hence I
won't repeat any claims). His dogged work-ethic has lead to discoveries that
might not otherwise be made, but there are some perverse incentives at play.

~~~
Diederich
> hence I won't repeat any claims

Unrelated question: so does this imply that the libel laws in Australia are
similar to those in UK? Thanks!

~~~
shakna
Yes, but more complicated.

Australian defamation law inherits the English defamation law, though with
some differences introduced across time.

I'm not overly familiar with UK law, but some differences I'm aware of:

\+ There is no difference between libel and slander.

\+ If it can be proven that you acted with malice, any and all defences may
instantly be ignored.

However, as harsh as all this is... We also have a ruling from '06 that means
that "truth" is an accurate defence. It used to be "truth" is only a defence
if it had public benefit, but that requirement was dropped.

If you said only "truth", and without malice aforethought, then you may escape
unscathed, but the bar for proving that is very very very high.

The laws around it are also very complicated, and difficult to navigate.

It is easy to claim someone said something that caused damage to a reputation,
and if that damage was to an individual, they can sue you, and they may well
win.

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cmroanirgo
Sounds a lot like our infamous drop bear.

[https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/mammals/drop-b...](https://australianmuseum.net.au/learn/animals/mammals/drop-
bear/)

[https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2013/04/drop-
be...](https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2013/04/drop-bears-target-
tourists-study-says/)

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antidaily
Reminds me of a story from about 10 years ago in Arkansas about a woodpecker
[https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/jou...](https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.1000459)

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abraae
Looks a bit like New Zealand's critically endangered Kakapo
([http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/kakapo](http://nzbirdsonline.org.nz/species/kakapo)).

~~~
justinator
AKA Party Parrot
[https://cultofthepartyparrot.com/](https://cultofthepartyparrot.com/)

