Threat abatement plan ISBN 0 642 54911 7 Department of the
Environment and Heritage, 2005 - Beak and feather disease
affecting endangered psittacine species - threat abatement plan
(PDF - 386 KB) About the plan Psittacine beak and feather
disease (BFD) is a common and potentially deadly disease of
parrots caused by a circovirus named beak and feather disease
virus. The disease appears to have originated in Australia and
is widespread and continuously present in wild populations of
Australian parrots. The potential effects of the disease on
parrot populations range from inconsequential to devastating,
depending on environmental conditions and the general health of
the parrots. In captivity the disease can cause very high death
rates in nestlings, and this is likely to also occur in the
wild, particularly in cases where the virus is introduced to
populations where breeding females have low levels of immunity.
The level of threat and distribution of the virus can be altered
by the movements of common parrot spec