There's been a ripple of excitement — and hope — in the Australian birdwatching world after recent sightings of the critically endangered regent honeyeater and swift parrot in northern coastal regions of New South Wales.

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Numbers of the Australian regent honeyeater are believed to be as low as 400 mature birds in the wild, with the swift parrot down to an estimated 2,000, and there are fears both species could become extinct.

The regent honeyeater had not been seen in NSW for six months, until a sighting was made at the Hunter Regional Botanical Gardens this week by Bill Kinsey from the Hunter Bird Observers Club.

"I was looking at normal honeyeaters that are common around here and there were some birds among them that were quite different — a lot blacker and [with] gold in them," he said.

"When one came down in low and turned around, I just recognised it straight away as a regent honeyeater. I'd never seen one before.

"I'd only seen them in books and on the internet and I was just amazed to see them."

The sighting of the regent honeyeater is the first anywhere in the world for more than six months. The bird was seen feeding on blackbutt blossom at the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens. ( Birdlife Australia: Mick Roderick )

Now extinct in South Australia and western Victoria, the regent honeyeater is distributed across south-east Queensland, New South Wales and eastern Victoria.

Mick Roderick, from Birdlife Australia's recovery team for woodland birds, said a number of regent honeyeaters were congregating in the Hunter region.

He said one had also been seen at Old Bar on the mid-north coast of NSW.

"It was a sense of excitement and a sense of relief because we'd gone nearly six months between confirmed sightings of regent honeyeaters," he said.

"With a bird from a population of as few as 400 mature individuals, this flock of around six birds represents at least around 1 per cent of the total population of regent honeyeaters, so this is actually a very significant sighting."

Dry conditions and habitat loss push birds towards coastal 'refuges'

The swift parrot, seen here in Port Macquarie, NSW, is also listed as critically endangered in Australia. ( Supplied: Liam Murphy )

A flock of up to 50 critically endangered swift parrots was recently spotted even further north, in Port Macquarie on the NSW mid-north coast.

They breed in Tasmania and are normally found mainly in southern and central Victoria in winter and in eastern New South Wales.

Dean Ingwersen, from Birdlife Australia, said the appearance of both swift parrots and regent honeyeaters in varying coastal trees, including some which were not their usual food source, was significant.

"It suggests to us there is potentially some level of environmental stress, there's not nectar available in the spots where they normally get them," he said.

"We think that this year in particular a lot of the swift parrot records are more northern and coastal in NSW," he said.

"We think it's telling us a story about what is happening with the broader woodland bird environment across south eastern Australia."

"So, it's probably indicative that decreased rainfall in their traditional areas west of the Dividing Range is causing less nectar flow [and] less food availability.

"These coastal refuges are really important."

Ecologist Rebecca-Montague Drake says protecting key coastal biodiversity areas is crucial for the survival of critically endangered birds. ( ABC News: Emma Siossian )

Ecologist Rebecca Montague-Drake, based at the Port Macquarie Hastings Council, agreed that protecting coastal 'refuge' habitats and 'key biodiversity areas' was crucial.

"They are really reliant on them and I suspect under the increasing influence of climate change these areas will become of even more importance as time goes on," Dr Montague-Drake said.

"Unfortunately, these areas are heavily threatened by coastal development on the coastal flood plain."

Sue Proust and Peter West, with Hastings Birdwatchers on the NSW mid-north coast, have seen firsthand the impact of development on the regent honeyeater's and swift parrot's coastal habitat.

Peter West and Sue Proust with Hastings Birdwatchers regularly take part in national surveys of the critically endangered swift parrot and regent honeyeater. ( ABC News: Emma Siossian )

"We saw 34 swift parrots in a forest red gum in Dunbogan, south of Port Macquarie, a few years ago and that tree is now gone," Ms Proust said.

Mr West said volunteers were doing what they could to protect coastal habitats.

"We get hungry and they get hungry too, so habitat is survival. If they don't have the habitat, they don't live," he said.

Recovery efforts underway

Mick Roderick at Birdlife Australia helps to run recovery efforts for the regent honeyeater and the swift parrot. ( ABC News: Anthony Scully )

National recovery efforts are underway for regent honeyeaters and swift parrots.

A captive release program for regent honeyeaters will be expanded from Victoria and southern NSW into areas further north in the next 12 months.

"Probably the greatest contemporary threat to regent honeyeaters is the critically small population," said Mr Roderick from Birdlife Australia.

"We know that they're having a few problems breeding and Birdlife Australia and the recovery team and other organisations are trying to improve their breeding success."

Specially-designed nest boxes, with doors which close overnight, will be trialled again this summer, to protect swift parrots from predators during their breeding season.

Specially-designed nest boxes for swift parrots are made with a door to keep sugar gliders and other predators out. ( Supplied: Dr Dejan Stojanovic ANU )

Twitchers encouraged to take part in mainland survey

Birdlife Australia runs an Australian mainland survey each May and August, to monitor numbers of regent honeyeaters and swift parrots, with the next one about to start on August 4.

Bill Kinsey with the Hunter Bird Observer's Club said the more eyes looking, the better.

"These are one of the rarest animals in the world and if we can help to save them and to help them breed up and get a decent population out there I think that's a wonderful thing to do," he said.

"The world would be a lot poorer without some of these spectacular species that live in the Australian environment."