In Canberra's north, ropes are being coiled, carabiners tightened and harnesses checked, all in the name of encouraging parrots to make a little whoopee.
The vulnerable Superb parrot is the target of earnest endeavours by Canberra's ornithologists as climate change forces a change in its usual behaviour.
Rising temperatures in the north of NSW and southern Queensland where the rare, green, long-tailed parrot usually spends its winter, are sending the birds south and further east for longer periods.
That's why ACT Parks and Conservation woodland ecologist Dr Laura Rayner is finding herself high up Canberra's mature gum trees, looking into hollows and checking the stoutness of their limbs, more often than normal.
It's all part of the job for the straight-talking member of the so-called "difficult bird research group" which is not just studying Canberra's Superb parrot population but finding and creating ideal places where these little-known birds can nest and raise their young.
Helping from the ground, somewhat unexpectedly, are a bunch of blokes from the Kaleen-Giralang men's shed.
The volunteers are building each of the carefully-constructed nesting boxes for the parrots which Dr Rayner then hauls high up into the tree canopy and fixes in place.
At that point it's just a waiting game to see if there's whoopee involved, and whether nature will take its course.
"Areas around here don't have a lot of big old gum trees with natural hollows that the birds prefer but the boxes should make a good substitute," Dr Rayner said, clambering once again into the climbing harness.
"We think there's between 50 to 60 adult Superb parrots in this part of Canberra and if we have done our homework correctly, hopefully we should have more by the end of summer.
"Quite a few people have put their thought, time and effort into this project but when working with wildlife, nothing is ever certain.
"Once the boxes go up, all we can do is wait and hope."
Should the breeding project succeed, Eric Detheridge and his men's shed, together with local ornithologist Lyn Smith, will be proud contributors.
Taking lessons learned from a sugar glider nesting box program near Albury, the men's shed volunteers kept their boxes as natural as possible, using well-seasoned fence palings as their source timber, and avoiding glues or paints.
Inside each box, linking the mulch-like shavings at the bottom to the round, access hole near the top, is fastened a tiny notched piece of timber so the hatchlings can hop out.
Canberrans can assist the project by watching out for the young birds as they emerge in the coming months, and post sightings on the nature map website.
