One of the world's rarest parrots may have teetered closer towards the brink of extinction in the wild with no females among the first wave to return to their Tasmanian breeding grounds.

Australia's orange-bellied parrot spends winter fossicking in the coastal salt marshes of Victoria and South Australia before returning from late September to Melaleuca in the Southwest National Park.

The first 10 orange-bellied parrots to arrive at their Tasmanian breeding grounds this season have been males. Credit:Paul Randall

Wildlife biologist Mark Holdsworth said 35 parrots made the journey north earlier this year – as of Friday night, 10 had returned. All were males.

Mr Holdsworth – who coordinated orange-bellied parrot recovery efforts for 25 years – said the first wave of arrivals were older, more experienced birds. Disappointed that none of the older females appeared to