Crimson Rosella
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| Platycercus elegans |
The Crimson Rosella, Platycercus elegans, is a parrot native to east and south east Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is found in mountain forests and gardens.
The Crimson Rosella, Platycercus elegans, is a parrot native to east and south east Australia. It has also been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. Adults and juveniles show strikingly different colouration in south-eastern populations, with predominantly golden-olive body plumage on the juvenile.
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[edit] Subspecies
[edit] Crimson Rosellas
The species has five subspecies, only three of which are actually crimson: elegans elegans, the nominate race of Victoria and eastern New South Wales. elegans nigrescens, occurring on Queensland's northeastern coast, and elegans melanoptera on Kangaroo Island. The main distinctions between these is size: nigrescens is the smallest of the three and melanoptera is the largest; both are slightly darker than the nominate race.
[edit] Yellow Rosella
The Yellow Rosella, which lives along the Murray River, was recently (1968) discovered to be a subspecies, P. elegans flaveolus, of the Crimson, and the main difference between the two is that those parts of the Crimson which are red are on the Yellow bright yellow.
[edit] Adelaide Rosella
The final race, P. elegans adelaidae was also thought to be a separate species. This subspecies ranges from the extreme South of the Mt Lofty ranges to the lower Flinders Ranges, and is geographically isolated from both the Yellow Rosella (P. elegens flaveolus) and the Crimson Rosella (P. elegens elegens), and, for that matter, the Kangaroo Island form of the Crimson Rosella (P. elegens melanoptera). It exhibits variation in its plumage from dark orange-red in the south of its distribution to a pale orange-yellow in the north. Variants that are very close to the Yellow race were designated subadelaidae.
[edit] Gallery
 Adult and juvenile Crimson Rosella |
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[edit] References
BirdLife International (2005). Platycercus elegans. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
Photographic Field Guide Birds of Australia (second edition); ISBN 1-876334-78-9.
[edit] External links
Condon HT. A handlist of the birds of South Australia. South Australian Ornithological Association, Adelaide. 1968.
