A glorious Tasmanian Kingfisher has been classified as endangered since 2001 yet there's no plan to manage its population or habitat. It's one of fourteen endangered Tasmanian birds without a recovery plan, prompting calls for greater action to protect the state's threatened species.
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00:00 For the last 15 years, Kim Phillips-Haynes' world has revolved around a small blue and
00:07 orange bird.
00:08 When you find him, he just stands out and you think, "How did we miss that?"
00:11 She wants more action to protect the Tasmanian Azua Kingfisher.
00:15 Well, I think it would be really good if members of parliament could follow through with the
00:20 protection notices that they put out for these birds and probably inform residents and locals
00:28 of river bank areas.
00:30 The birds have been classified endangered for more than 20 years, yet don't have a recovery
00:34 plan.
00:35 Erosion on the river, the habitat that we've lost, such as other species as well around
00:42 the world.
00:43 The environment, without the environment, the birds aren't there.
00:45 After notching more than 50 bird-watching cruisers in Tasmania's northwest, Dean Hon
00:50 is using his photography to lift the birds' profile.
00:54 I've had people from the mainland that follow us on social media and so forth.
00:59 They come here specifically to Alveston to do this cruise, to come see this bird.
01:04 The Tasmanian Azua Kingfisher remains one of the state's most understudied birds, but
01:08 with numbers believed to have stabilised, there's hope that these birds will bring joy
01:12 to nature lovers for generations to come.
01:15 Bird experts are calling for population monitoring work to identify the risks posed by disease,
01:20 bushfires and changes to water systems.
01:24 And with this species we know very little.
01:26 We've got a best guess at what their population is, but more work needs to be done.
01:30 In 2012 the Tasmanian government approved seven recommendations to reduce the Azua Kingfishers'
01:36 extinction risk, including exploring the possibility of establishing a captive population.
01:42 Eleven years later, none of the recommendations have been fully implemented and the Department
01:47 of Natural Resources and Environment says more population monitoring is required.
01:52 [BLANK_AUDIO]