Crimson Rosella

Scientific name: Platycercus elegans

Meaning of name:

Platycercus is from the Greek words platys, meaning flat, and cercos, meaning tail. Elegans is Latin for handsome.

Distribution:

The Crimson Rosella is naturally found from Adelaide, in the south east of Australia, and up the east coast to Cairns.

Description:

Up to 38 centimetres long with a 53 centimetre wingspan. This species comes in three colour variations – crimson, yellow and a grading between the two.

Remarks:

As this species doesn’t occur naturally near Perth, it is likely that these birds are aviary escapees. The birds photographed appear to be the yellow variant of Crimson Rosella.

References:

Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Various contributors.

What Bird is That? Neville W Cayley. 1978

Atlas of Living Australia https://bie.ala.org.au/species/https://biodiversity.org.au/afd/taxa/5e0f496f-5045-41ff-8c03-f3c8fd4f8ccd