Photo credit: Gary King

The Orange-bellied Parrot breeds only in summer in Tasmania, with most of the population migrating to spend the winter in coastal Victoria and South Australia. Adult Orange-bellied Parrots return to Tasmania around October to breed, and leave for mainland Australia in late February to mid-March. Juveniles depart for mainland wintering grounds a little later, towards the end of March to early April. It is thought that they mostly travel at night.

According to the IUCN Red List, the overall population, which was estimated to number around 150 individuals in 2005, has since undergone a rapid decline (confirmed by data from both breeding and wintering sites): surveys in early 2010 found fewer than 50 birds at Melaleuca and no birds at any other historical breeding areas. The wild population was therefore estimated to contain fewer than 50 individuals in 2010, and its extinction in the wild was predicted to occur within 3-5 years (Sims 2010). The population has steadily declined since and was unlikely to have exceeded 25 mature individuals in 2016/17 (M. Holdsworth in litt. 2016)