The Crimson Rosella
Platycercus elegans
Anne Bowman
Print of original artwork - Anne works in pastel, watercolour & pencil.
21cm x 29.5cm
The Crimson Rosella is a medium-sized Australian parrot at 36cm long, much of which is tail. There are 7 sub-species, 3 of which are actually crimson. Named for the type which has mostly crimson feathers and blue cheek patches, there are other colour variants: the 'Adelaide Rosella', ranging from pale orange-yellow in the north to dark orange-red in the south of its distribution, and Queensland's 'Yellow Rosella' in which yellow replaces the crimson and the tail is greener. Young birds also have blue cheeks, with body feathers of a greenish/yellow olive dolour, which gradually change to adult colours during the next 15 months.
The Crimson Rosella is found in tell wetter Eucalypt forests, in Victoria and coastal NSW, int southeastern Qld, and southeastern SA, Kangaroo Isle, as well as Tasmania. Introduced populations occur in New Zealand (intr. 2910) and Norfolk Island (intr. 1830).
Their diet consists of eucalyptus seeds, grasses, berries, nectar and nuts, as well as insects, insect larvae and some tree blossoms.
The breeding season lasts from around September to February.
Crimson Rosellas are monogamous and nest in tree trunks stumps and limbs. The female selects a hollow, up to 30 metres above the ground, lined with debris made from gnawing the sides of the hollow itself. The depth of a nest hollow is greater than 1 metre. A clutch of 3 to 8 eggs are laid, around 2 days apart, incubation ranging from 16 to 28 days.
Only the female incubates the eggs and she alone feeds the chicks for the first 6 days. Hatching generally occurs around mid-December. The young become independent about 2 months later and fully mature at 16 months.
Fortunately the Crimson Rosella is currently listed as a Species of Least Concern y the IUCN, but feral and free roaming cats, foxes as well as continued land clearing, represent significant ongoing threats to all such forest dwelling species.
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