HOME - KING PARROTS - 8 NOVEMBER 2016

We had visitors today. They were no lethal and rather pretty... The Australian King Parrot - Alisterua scapularis.

Male Australian King-Parrots are the only Australian parrots with a completely red head. Females are similar to males except that they have a completely green head and breast. Both sexes have a red belly and a green back, with green wings and a long green tail. King parrots are normally encountered in pairs or family groups.

Our visitors were two males, so we assumed they were the males in a family group.

They are such a pretty bird that, I feel, give off an aurora of calmness.

SUNRISE, KING PARROTS AND A ROSELLA - 11 NOVEMBER 2015

A brilliant sunrise this morning from Terrigal Beach.

 

 

The red glow changed to a filtered white with twinkles across the water as I had a coffee near Terrigal Surf Club.

 

 

Back at home, and a pleasant surprise with a couple of juvenile king parrots and one adult. They landed in the trees next to the balcony. I was able to coax them closer with the offer of wild bird seed which was suitable for the species. The adult approached first and the juveniles followed but the adult chased them off until it was finished.

 

 

 

Eventually, the juveniles were able to feed and we had the pleasure of watching them for quite awhile. Out of the blue a pair of Eastern Rosellas flew down and chased then off but strangely they didn't eat any of the bird feed and flew off once the King Parrrots were gone. this is the first time we have seen rosellas here.

 

 

 

The juveniles snuck back and stayed for awhile until they left at their leisure.

 

 

 

A nice morning.

 

 

TERRIGAL - KING PARROTS - 18 OCTOBER 2015

We had visitors. A pair of Australian King Parrots landed on the deck and stayed for a short while. They are such a pretty bird. They have only visited occasionally. :)

Here is some birdy info:

Alisterus scapularisPsittacidae

Male Australian King-Parrots are the only Australian parrots with a completely red head. Females are similar to males except that they have a completely green head and breast. Both sexes have a red belly and a green back, with green wings and a long green tail. King parrots are normally encountered in pairs or family groups.

 

King-Parrots are usually found in rainforests or wet sclerophyll forests

The King-Parrot mostly forages in trees for seeds and fruit.

King-Parrots lay their eggs on a bed of decayed wood-dust at the bottom of a deep hollow in the trunk of a tree. Often the entrance is high in the tree (10 m) but the eggs are near the ground (0.5 m).