What an amazing birdlife
Australia has! The King Parrot is named appropriately for both its size and
colour. It is the king of all its kind.
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| Male King Parrot, Lane Cove, 17 September 2019, within tree that it was feeding from, and of a group of approximately ten birds. |
Some King Parrots have visited a
Lane Cove street. They have taken a liking to an Australian native tree that is seeding.
The male is unique amongst
Australian parrots in that it is the only parrot to have red head colouring. It
is distinguished from the female in this way in that she has green colouring
for her head. In common, both male and female have a red belly and green back.
King Parrots habitat is
principally in rainforests; they feed within tree canopies. They eat both seeds
and fruit. They will travel from rainforest environs when food is in short
supply. King Parrots are found on the East Coast of Australia from the tropics
through to Victoria. This makes them a common sight within Sydney. They largely
live their entire lives in a tight geographic area. King Parrots will eat from feeding trays and
may often be seen drinking from backyard ponds.
The King Parrot prefers to nest
in hollow trees. They will often have a nest that is within fifty centimetres
of ground level where the entry point to the hollowed tree is ten metres or
more high!
A surprising feature of the King
Parrot is that some colouring patterns are visible only the ultra-violet wave-lengths.
While King Parrots look very much alike to human observers, they look quite
unique to King Parrots whose vision includes the ultra-violet spectrum. That is
a helpful way for a King Parrot in the darkness of a nest to know whether the
King Parrot entering the nest is your mate!
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| The location of the King Parrots; corner of Finlayson Street and Centennial Avenue; image: Google Maps. |
Photographing the King Parrots
proved difficult with a camera that had no credible zoom ability. The birds
would scatter if I came too close. With some patience, a single photograph of a
male was taken.
Shalom,
Ozhamada
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