In the dry savannas of northern Australia, where wildfires are as common as rainfall, a small parrot with an extraordinary survival strategy thrives. The Hooded Parrot (Psephotellus dissimilis) may look delicate, but it carries within it a secret as dramatic as the flames that sweep its homeland.

Males are striking—emerald green with a jet-black hood and a splash of turquoise on the wings—while females wear subtler tones of olive and gray. But what makes this parrot remarkable isn’t just its plumage. It’s the way it raises its young.

Instead of nesting in trees like most parrots, the Hooded Parrot has evolved to dig. Using its sharp bill and claws, the female carves a narrow tunnel into termite mounds, sometimes more than a meter deep. Inside the cool, protective chamber, she lays her eggs safe from predators and shielded from the brutal heat of the Australian sun. The termites, surprisingly, don’t attack—they simply wall off the chamber, leaving the parrot family to grow in peace.

This unusual nesting method allows Hooded Parrots to survive in landscapes where tree hollows are scarce and wildfires can quickly consume anything above ground. The bond with termites is so unique that the species cannot thrive without them, making this relationship one of nature’s strangest and most delicate partnerships.

Once the chicks fledge, the parrots gather in small, lively flocks. Their calls ring out over the open woodland as they feed on seeds and grasses, often close to waterholes where they can drink and bathe in the shimmering heat.

The Hooded Parrot is found only in a limited range of Australia’s Northern Territory, making it both a treasure and a reminder of the fragile ecosystems that sustain such specialized lives. To see one perched on a branch, its hood gleaming black against a backdrop of golden savanna, is to glimpse a bird that has mastered fire country—not by fighting it, but by digging deep and surviving where others cannot.