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Male King parrot feeding on fruit at Lamington National Park in the subtropical rainforest hinterland of the Gold Coast, Australia. These are common round the National Park picnic grounds, and in the forest.
Photograph by ozwildlife. Some rights reserved.
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Close up of female.
Photograph by ozwildlife. Some rights reserved.
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Close up of male.
Photograph by ozwildlife. Some rights reserved.
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Immature male King Parrot. You can see the red feathers starting to appear around the neck.
Photograph by ozwildlife. Some rights reserved.
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King Parrots come to feed in large numbers at the Bunya Mountains National Park.
Photograph by ozwildlife. Some rights reserved.
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young male
Photograph by ozwildlife. Some rights reserved.
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at bird feeder in Brisbane
Photograph by ozwildlife. Some rights reserved.
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KING PARROT FACTS
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Description
The male King Parrot is a beautiful rainforest bird with red and green feathers and blue on the wing coverts. The female has green head and red underside. Immatures have green heads and for a period the males have mixture of red and green feathers as they develop their adult plumage.
Other Names
Blood Rosella, King Lory
Size
42cm
Environment
rainforest, wet eucalypt woodland, coastal woodland, parks and gardens near forest.
Food
They eat seeds, fruit, nuts, nectar, blossoms and leaf buds. They also come to the ground to pick up fallen seeds.
Breeding
Breeds September to January and nests in holes in trees the entrance to the nest is usually high up in the tree. Lays 3-5 white eggs.
Range
coastal areas of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
Notes
Large numbers of King Parrots come in to be hand fed in some national parks such as Lamington National Park and Bunya Mountains National Park. They will land on your outstretched arm (or on your head!) and feed on bird seed from your hand.
King Parrots are hardy birds - I had an email from Hans Engstrand who is breeding them in Sweden. Hans sent a photo of the birds in a snow covered aviary. He said "they can be outdoors and indoors winter time, but they like to be outdoors (down to minus celsius 20 deg. below)".
Classification
| Class: | Aves | | Order: | Psittaciformes | | Family: | Psittacidae | | Genus: | Alisterus | | Species: | scapularis | | Common Name: | King Parrot |
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