Northern rosella
Northern rosella | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Psittaciformes |
Family: | Psittaculidae |
Genus: | Platycercus |
Species: | P. venustus
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Binomial name | |
Platycercus venustus (Kuhl, 1820)
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Range (in green) in Australia |
The northern rosella (Platycercus venustus), formerly known as Brown's rosella or the smutty rosella, is a
Found in woodland and open
Taxonomy and naming
The northern rosella was first
"Northern rosella" has been designated the official
One of six species of rosella in the genus Platycercus, the northern rosella and related eastern (P. eximius) and pale-headed rosella (P. adscitus) make up a "white-cheeked" lineage. A 1987 genetic study on mitochondrial DNA by Ovenden and colleagues found that the northern rosella was the earliest offshoot (basal) of a lineage that gave rise to the other white-cheeked forms.[16] But a study with nuclear DNA by Ashlee Shipham and colleagues published in 2017 found that the eastern rosella was basal to the lineage that split into the pale-headed and northern rosellas, and hence, that non-sister taxa were able to hybridise among the rosellas.[17]
Description
Smaller than all rosella species except the western rosella, the adult northern rosella weighs 90 to 110 g (3.2 to 3.9 oz) and is 29 to 32 cm (11 to 13 in) long.[18] It has broad wings with a wingspan of around 44 cm (17 in),[9][18] and a long tail with twelve feathers.[9] The sexes are almost indistinguishable, though some adult females have duller plumage and are more likely to have some red feathers on the head and breast.[19] The adult bird has a black forehead, crown, lores, ear coverts, upper neck and nape, a whitish throat and large cheek-patches, which are mainly white with violet lower borders in the nominate subspecies,[20] and more blue with a narrow white upper segment in subspecies hillii. The feathers of the lower neck, mantle and scapulars are black narrowly fringed with yellow, giving a scalloped appearance, while the feathers of the back, rump, upper tail coverts and underparts are pale yellow with black borders and concealed grey bases. Those of the breast have very dark grey bases, occasionally tinged with red. The undertail covert feathers are red with black fringes. The feathers on the upper leg are pale yellow tinged with blue.[20] The central rectrices of the long tail are dark green changing to dark blue at the tips, while the other feathers are dark blue with two bands of pale blue and white tips. The undertail is pale blue with a white tip. The wings have a wide purplish blue shoulder patch at rest, with the secondary feathers edged darker blue and the primaries black edged with blue. The beak is off-white with a grey cere, the legs and feet are grey, and the iris is dark brown.[18] Immature birds resemble adults but are duller overall, with less-well defined cheek patches. The black plumage in particular is more greyish, and there are more likely to be scattered red feathers on the head, neck and underparts.[20]
Distribution and habitat
The northern rosella is found across northern Australia. In Western Australia, it is found across the Kimberley south to the 18th parallel, around Derby, Windjana Gorge National Park, the northern Wunaamin Miliwundi Ranges, Springvale Station and Warmun, with vagrants reported at Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing. In the Northern Territory it is found from Victoria River north to the Tiwi Islands and east into western Arnhem Land, and across northern Arnhem Land through Milingimbi Island and the Wessel Islands to the Gove Peninsula. It is absent from central Arnhem Land, but is found further east around the western and southern coastline of the Gulf of Carpentaria, south to Borroloola and across the border into western Queensland[21] as far as the Nicholson River.[22]
The northern rosella lives in grassy open forests and woodlands, including deciduous eucalypt savanna woodlands. Typical trees include species of Eucalyptus,[18] such as Darwin stringybark (Eucalyptus tetrodonta),[15] Melaleuca, Callitris and Acacia. More specific habitats include vegetation along small creeks and gorges, sandstone outcrops and escarpments, as well as some forested offshore islands. The northern rosella is occasionally found in mangroves or public green spaces in suburban Darwin. It avoids dense forest.[18]
Behaviour
Not a
Breeding
Nesting occurs in tree hollows in the Southern Hemisphere winter, often in eucalypts located near water. The
Feeding
The northern rosella feeds on the ground in grassy glades in woodlands and on roadsides and riverbanks, as well as in the canopy of trees.
Predation and parasites
The northern rosella is a prey item of the rufous owl (Ninox rufa).[24] The bird louse Forficuloecus wilsoni has been recovered from the northern rosella.[25]
Conservation status
The northern rosella is listed as being a
Aviculture
Most northern rosellas in captivity in Australia are the nominate subspecies, but there are blue-cheeked specimens that are either subspecies hillii or intermediate.[14] Its attractive colours make it a desirable species to keep.[27] In captivity in the Northern Hemisphere, the northern rosella has been reported to breed in the same calendar months as it does in its Southern Hemisphere native range.[28] As it breeds early in the season, clutches laid in cooler months of cooler Australian states may fail. Breeders have attempted to use sprinklers in enclosures to induce pairs to breed at other times.[27]
References
Citations
- ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
- .
- ^ a b Australian Biological Resources Study (1 March 2012). "Subspecies Platycercus (Violania) venustus venustus (Kuhl, 1820)". Australian Faunal Directory. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Australian Government. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
- ISBN 0-304-52257-0.
- ^ Temminck, C.J. (1822). "Account of some new species of birds of the genera Psittacus and Columba, in the Museum of the Linnean Society". Transactions of the Linnean Society of London. 15: 170–331 [282–83].
- ^ Vigors, Nicholas Aylward (1825). "A description of the Australian birds in the collection of the Linnean Society; with an attempt at arranging them according to their natural affinities". Zoological Journal London. 1: 526–42.
- .
- ^ Mathews, Gregory M. (1910). "In Proceedings of meeting of British Ornithologists' Club, Nov 16, 1910". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 27: 28.
- ^ a b c d e Higgins 1999, p. 368.
- .
- ^ Mathews, Gregory M. (1912). "Additions and corrections to my Reference List to the Birds of Australia". Austral Avian Records. 1 (2): 25–52 [36].
- ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Parrots & cockatoos". World Bird List Version 7.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-643-10471-6.
- ^ a b Kleesh, Ken (1999). "Rosellas; an Australian viewpoint". AFA Watchbird. 26 (2): 26–27.
- ^ ISBN 9781877069192.
- doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.molbev.a040462. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2008-03-07.
- S2CID 89599006.
- ^ a b c d e f g Higgins 1999, p. 364.
- ^ a b Higgins 1999, p. 367.
- ^ a b c d e f g Higgins 1999, p. 366.
- ^ a b c Higgins 1999, p. 365.
- ISSN 1037-258X.
- ^ Higgins 1999, pp. 364–65.
- .
- doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1859.1.3. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2017-09-04.
- ^ "Appendices I, II and III". CITES. 22 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
- ^ ISBN 0-9588106-0-5.
- .
Cited texts
- Higgins, P. J. (1999). Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds. Vol. 4: Parrots to Dollarbird. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-553071-3.
External links
- Media related to Platycercus venustus at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Platycercus venustus at Wikispecies