Beauty of Australian Parrots

Parrots look special simply because of their beautiful colours, antics, character and ability to mimic the human voice. The Australian King Parrot belongs to the genus Alisterus. The adults of both sexes of Australian parrots are about 43 cm or we can say as 17 inches in length including the long broad tail.

Australian parrots :  King Parrot photo

 The adult male of this species has a red head, breast and lower undersides. A blue band is there on the back of the neck between the red above and green below. Their wings are green and each has a pale green shoulder band. They have a green colour tail and blue rump.

The male has a reddish-orange upper mandible with a black tip or few have a black lower mandible with an orange base and yellow irises. The female is different from the male and has a green coloured head and breast, a grey colour beak, and a pale shoulder band which is small or almost absent. Juveniles of both sexes have brown irises and a yellowish beak. The Australian parrots are famous for their red and green colour combination and this gives them a unique and a bright look.

Australian parrots : Turquoise Parrot photo

 They like a very deep log or box for nesting and if wild nesting, they prefer to choose a hollow tree, approximately ten meters down from the entrance. They lay their eggs in this deep hollowed tree where they make a bed of decayed wood dust. February and March are the best breeding seasons for the Australian parrots. They are not very noisy and active like some other species of parrots. But they are destructive to orchards or maize crops as they eat all types of fruits, nuts, berries and seeds. They are mostly found in pairs or family groups.

There are different types of Australian parrots such as Rainbow Lorikeet, Scaly Breasted Lorikeet, Musk Lorikeet, Rainbow Lorikeet, Crimson Rosella, Eastern Rosella, Northern Rosella, Yellow Rosella, Pale-headed Rosella, Red rumped Parrot, Red-winged Parrot, Turquoise Parrot, and Australian Ring neck.

 Australian parrots : Rainbow Lorikeet photo

Australian parrots : Crimson Rosella photo

Australian parrots : Red rumped Parrot photo

King-Parrots are found along the east coast and ranges of Australia, mostly from Cooktown in Queensland to Port Campbell in Victoria. Rainforests or wet sclerophyll forests are the preferred habitat for the Australian parrots.

Australian parrots : Australian Ringneck photo