THE reported discovery of a new species of parrot in Queensland's rainforests has been undermined by a leading authority on forensic photography.
The Beattie Government has dissociated itself from naturalist John Young after Gale Spring, associate professor in scientific photography at Melbourne's RMIT University, cast doubt on a photograph of a parrot Mr Young claimed was new to science.

Professor Spring has given evidence in cases such as the disappearances of British backpacker Peter Falconio and Victorian toddler Jaidyn Leskie.

In November, Mr Young's company, John Young Wildlife Enterprises, and Queensland Environment Minister Lindy Nelson-Carr announced the discovery of the so-called blue-browed fig-parrot in the rainforests of southern Queensland.

Mr Young and the Queensland Government's endangered species officer, Ian Gynther, were to publish a scientific article about the discovery.

The photograph of the parrot was featured prominently in Brisbane's Courier Mail newspaper. At the time, The Australian reported Mr Young had made similar claims in the mid-1990s which were not substantiated, and that there were doubts about the photograph. The bird depicted closely resembled the red-browed fig-parrot of north Queensland, except the forehead was blue, not red. Soon afterwards, Professor Spring was sent a high-resolution image of the photograph.

At a briefing in Brisbane last week, Professor Spring showed computer images of the photo to Dr Gynther and other Environment Department officers. He pointed out differences between the texture of feathers around the bird's head and feathers on the rest of its body. He thought the surface imaging of the photograph was typical of pictures that had been altered, and although there might be an explanation for this, said he needed to view the original image.

He offered to examine the original photographs on a CD or under supervision at Mr Young's Brisbane office. The inspection would have resolved the matter, but the offer was not taken up.

"Without seeing the original images, it is not possible for me to conclude absolutely this photograph is not genuine," Professor Spring said. "Nonetheless, I have doubts about several aspects, and this clearly requires inquiry."

John Young Wildlife Enterprises chairman Tom Biggs declined to comment on why Professor Spring's offer to examine the photos was turned down.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...-30417,00.html

I saw something about the original discovery of the new Fig Parrot in a bird mag but not one I bought. I hope its not a fake. It could just be a misidentification of an existing Fig Parrot.

Politics, he said , she said....wouldn't it be nice if everyone involved would just do what is needed before making it public.
I also heard they found a new species of Finch.
I also heard a person turned up with a St Vincent Amazon Parrot after being declared Extinct for the last 27 years.
All a person can do is sit back and watch and form there own conclussions.

"I also heard a person turned up with a St Vincent Amazon Parrot after being declared Extinct for the last 27 years."

You must be thinking of the wrong bird.. the St. Vincent is alive and well, both in captivity and its natural habitat.