the Northern Rosella

Abstract

Preamble

In addition to the nominate species, Platycercus venustus venustus, there is a subspecies P. iensutus hilli which has violet-blue cheek patches instead of white and underparts that differ slightly to venustus. The nominate race is the one kept in captivity in Australia (Hutchins & Lovell). However, Barry Hutchins advises me there are a few Northern Rosellas held in captivity in Australia with violet cheek feathers instead of white and the several (living) specimens he has studied do not show the underparts coloration as described for the subspecies P. v. billi in Australian Parrots: A Field and Aviary Study. Although some aviculturists call them billi he is not convinced they are the hilli race (pers. comm.).

This attractive rosella is also called Smutty Rosella and Brown's Parakeet. It is well known by the latter name in Europe and the United Kingdom whereas in Australia its popular common name is Northern Rosella. It was discovered in the early 1800s by the Scottish biologist, Robert Brown, who travelled with Matthew Flinders on the ship the Investigator

It was first bred in the United Kingdom in 1928 by (the late) Duke of Bedford. The first official breeding in captivity in South Australia was by Alan H. Lendon in 1939.

Introduction

first saw the Northern Rosella in the wild at Turkey Creek, Western Australia, in 1989 where my wife, Audrey, and I were camped prior to visiting the Bungle Bungles in the Kimberley. A small party of three birds came in to drink at a tap which was dripping. They would land on the tap and take the water as it dripped from the tap. (Unfortunately the photograph I took of a Northern Rosella sitting on the tap is not good enough for reproduction in Watchbird)

The Bungle Bungle Range covers approximately 791,000 acres in the top-end of Western Australia, with numerous gorges, towering cliffs and canyons. Either driving through them or flying over them, the total structure is one of beehive-shaped domes of sandstone. It must rate as one of the most fascinating of the National Parks in Australia.

Distribution and Habitat in the Wild

In its native state "the northern rosella exists in a monsoonal climate across the northern parts of two Australian states and extending into a third. From the Kimberley Division of Western Australia across the northern parts of the Northern Territory into Queensland, where it occupies a small area of that state near the bottom of the Gulf of Carpentaria eastwards to Burketown" (Hutchins & Lovell). It also inhabits some islands such as Melville, Bathurst, and Milengimbi off the northern coast of Australia.

Their habitat varies from coastal mangrove and pandanus thickets to Distribution of the Northern Rosella on the Australian mainland.

savannah woodlands in the vicinity of watercourses. The birds feed on the pollen, nectar, and seeds of many native trees. They also take many species of grubs, beetles and other insects, in addition to seed from native grasses.

Sexing

The sexing of this rosella is difficult.

The adult female is similar to the adult male with the only noticeable difference being in the size and colour of the head. The head of the female is smaller and narrower and the black on the male is generally more intense than in the female.

Immature birds are a duller version of adult birds and may show red flecking in the black of the head. They take 12 months to attain adult plumage.

A special feature of this rosella is that both the adult male and adult female have a black forehead, crown, nape, lores and ear-patches. In addition there is little plumage variation in adult male and female throughout the year.

As an avicultural subject this bird is unique because of its unusual coloration of black, blue, yellow, and red.