New nesting boxes help Snowy Mountains' turquoise parrots recover from Black Summer bushfires

Turquoise parrots were abundant in the 19th century, before land clearing and feral animals decimated their numbers. (Supplied: Chris R Bruce)

When Louise Freckelton and David Bray were surveying their property in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains, after the devastating Black Summer bushfires, they were elated to find a unique and vulnerable bird species that had survived.

The small population of turquoise parrots had held on during the Dunns Road fire by populating small, unburnt sections of bushland.