A secretive 56,000-hectare conservation reserve has been established in Queensland in an effort to protect a tiny population of endangered night parrots.

Two years ago, the elusive night parrot was rediscovered after being thought lost for more than 75 years. It was big news in the bird world.

The editor of Birdlife Magazine Sean Dooley summed it up as: "The bird watching equivalent of finding Elvis flipping burgers in an outback roadhouse".

South Australian Museum collection manager Dr Philippa Horton called the find: "One of the holy grails, one of the world's rarest species probably".

After a long search, naturalist John Young found the bird and some feathers on a property west of the town of Longreach in July 2013.

He revealed his photographs and evidence to the world, but not the location.

Sorry, this video has expired Like 'finding Elvis flipping burgers in an outback roadhouse': Museum collector

That information has remained highly confidential while plans are put in place to protect the parrot from external pressures like weeds, fire, feral predators including cats and people.

Interest in the bird is so high that poachers are also a concern.

A live bird or eggs could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars on the black market.

Previously unseen footage of the night parrot will be aired on 7.30 tonight.

Conservation organisation Bush Heritage Australia is working with the government, scientists and bird experts to secure 56,000 hectares of land as a conservation reserve.

Bush Heritage's executive manager of the north region, Rob Murphy, said the area takes in the birds' natural habitat.

"This is the biggest story of conservation in Australia today," Mr Murphy told 7.30.

"For as long as we can, we'll keep it as secret as we can.

"It's just such a critical thing that we do everything that we can to save this species to bring it back from the brink of extinction."

Dr Jim Radford, Steve Murphy and Rachel Barr doing research on the night parrot on a south-west Queensland property. ( Supplied: Dr Steve Murphy )

Too risky for conservation reserve location to be revealed

Ecologist Dr Steve Murphy is researching the night parrot population and said if more are found, the public would then have the opportunity to visit them.

"But without finding those other populations the risks are still really too great," he said.

After searching for the lost bird he was one of the first people to visit the population.

"It was an incredible experience sitting on the hill, and this little bird calling out from the spinifex just after dusk, it was amazing," he said.

But he said it was extremely difficult to see one of the birds.

"They come out at night, they're nocturnal and in the daytime they're tucked right up in the spinifex and impossible to see," he said.

In two years of intensive work, he had only seen three of the birds.

A camera trap set up to try to snap the night parrot. ( Supplied: Dr Steve Murphy )

He was able attach a tracking device to one of them and he and his research partner Rachel Barr filmed the encounter.

"We were the first ones to hold a living night parrot and so yeah, the sense of responsibility was just awesome," he said.

"We really had to focus; we were both shaking pretty madly at the start.

"We put a tiny little radio transmitter on it and we let it go."

He said the information gained from the tracker has helped build a better understanding of the night parrot puzzle.

A night parrot recovery team has also been established, including scientists from Charles Darwin University, the Australian National University, the CSIRO, and state and federal government.

Dr Murphy said it was all part of a long-term plan.

"We're aware that it's not going to remain a secret forever and the trick is getting the mechanisms in place now that are going to allow us to manage the interest that's going to follow once the location is revealed."

Fortescue Metals Group has funded Dr Murphy's research so far.