Juvenile female Australian King Parrot

Juvenile female Australian king Parrot.
Photo taken by Eleesha Hardy, © August 2012.

Here is a photo of a juvenile female Australian King Parrot taken by my daughter late last month. As you can see the female King Parrot does not have the yellow colouring around her eyes yet. The yellow circle around the eye is only visible in adult or mature King Parrots.

The head of this bird is a green colour but it is not a deep rich green as seen in adult female King Parrots. There is also no pale green colouring in the wing feathers.

The chest and throat colouring is nearly identical to that of the adult females but the colouring is a bit on the dull side.

Currently, the only way to identify this bird from the other female King Parrots in the area is the dark green patch of feathers around her right eye. I am not sure if this same patch of dark green feathers is on the left side of her face or not. It will be interesting to see if she loses the dark green feathers or whether they get darker or lighter the more she matures. Apart from that she looks identical to an female adult King Parrot.

Juvenile male Australian King Parrot

Whilst taking happy snaps of the King Parrots today, I took this quick photo of what I first thought was a female. Well, it's actually a juvenile male. Only the male King Parrots have the pale green on their wings.

Looking at this bird reminds me of a cross between a male and a female King Parrot. The bird has a half green and half red head and red belly, green back and wings. It also has the pale green markings on it's wings. Adult males have entirely red heads. The adult females have entirely green heads.

The eye colouring of the juvenile male is almost the same as the adults however it does not have the yellow colouring around the eye like the adults have. The beak colouring is also the same as the male and female adult birds.

The distinctive green colouring around the juvenile male's chest and head is what looks out of place but makes this bird look so unique. it was spotted in a small family group with an adult male King Parrot and possibly a female King Parrot or another juvenile plus 3 or 4 other King Parrots. I didn't really pay that much attention to the other birds to identify their actual genders.

How old this young male is I do not know but it was very close to fully grown, if not fully grown - length-wise. Still much more research to do on this species.

Australian King Parrot Alisterus scapularis



A local solitary male Australian King Parrot.
© Photo taken by Daniel C. Hardy
about 2008 - 2010.

There are a small flock of Australian King Parrots that I believe live in Tenterfield. They are sighted daily feeding in my neighbour Carol's garden at the bird feeder. I am not sure if any of the birds in the video below are breeding pairs.

There used to be large numbers of King Parrots in Tenterfield some 8 years ago but then the rain stopped falling and the environment began to dry out and most of them left. A few years ago some of the King Parrots returned despite the ongoing drought and have since stayed in Tenterfield.

The males are predominantly red and green with a red head whereas the females are green and red. The females are slightly smaller than the males and are more shy and more easily scared off if approached by a human. Australian King Parrots are about 41 - 43cms in length and are one of the bird species consistently spotted in Tenterfield, especially seen in the late afternoon prior to roosting in tall trees.

The Rotunda at Jubilee Park

You often see these birds at Jubilee Park feeding on tree seeds that have fallen to the ground in Summer. You can safely get 12 feet from the male Australian King Parrots without them flying off at Jubilee Park. If these birds are spotted at bird feeders, you can safely get 6 feet from these birds, only if you walk slowly toward them. Some of the local male King Parrots do not seem to mind humans taking photos of them, and seem to pose for the camera. King Parrots seem to enjoy the company of humans, especially solitary ones who don't have a mate yet. Males of this species are more commonly sighted than females due to a lack of large numbers of breeding pairs in the area.