Northern rosella

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Northern rosella

Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittaculidae
Genus: Platycercus
Species:
P. venustus
Binomial name
Platycercus venustus
(Kuhl, 1820)
Range (in green) in Australia

The northern rosella (Platycercus venustus), formerly known as Brown's rosella or the smutty rosella, is a

Western Australian subspecies hillii. The northern rosella's mantle and scapulars are black with fine yellow scallops, while its back, rump and underparts are pale yellow with fine black scallops. The long tail is blue-green, and the wings are black and blue-violet. The sexes have similar plumage
, while females and younger birds are generally duller with occasional spots of red.

Found in woodland and open

of Threatened Species.

Taxonomy and naming

The northern rosella was first

Platycercus in 1827, describing it as the "most beautiful of the family".[6] However, John Gould wrote in his 1865 work Handbook to the Birds of Australia that "Hitherto this bird has been known to ornithologists as Platycercus brownii, a specific appellation in honour of the celebrated botanist; but which, I regret to say, must give place to the prior one of venustus."[7]

Painting by Ferdinand Bauer c. 1811–1813

Melville Island, was described by Mathews in 1912, noting it to have blacker plumage on its back.[11] It is now thought to be indistinguishable from the nominate subspecies.[3]

"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

Subspecies hillii, Western Australia

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

gregarious bird, the northern rosella is generally found alone or in pairs, although several birds perch together in the same tree.[18] Sometimes they are encountered in larger troops—usually 6 to 8 birds, but in rare instances up to 15 individuals.[20] It is shyer than other rosellas, and flees to the upper tree canopy if disturbed.[18] It is a quieter and less vocal species than other rosellas, and its call repertoire has been little studied. It exhibits a sharp and short chit-chut chit-chut contact call in flight; while perched it makes a three-note whistle on ascending scale or metallic piping sounds. Soft chattering can be heard while feeding, and sometimes when squabbling at the beginning of breeding season.[20]

Breeding

Nesting occurs in tree hollows in the Southern Hemisphere winter, often in eucalypts located near water. The

nidicolous).[19] They may remain in the nest for seven weeks after hatching and are fed by both parents.[20] Fledglings remain with their parents for a year or more, often feeding together in small family groups.[15]

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.

Callitris intratropica) and grasses. It eats both the seeds and nectar of white gum (Eucalyptus alba), Darwin stringybark, long-fruited bloodwood (Corymbia polycarpa), fibrebark (Melaleuca nervosa) and fern-leaved grevillea (Grevillea pteridifolia). It also eats flowers, such as those of Darwin woollybutt (Eucalyptus miniata), and fruit. It also eats larval and adult insects.[21]

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

A pair in captivity with prominent blue cheeks

The northern rosella is listed as being a

species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), on account of its large range and stable population, with no evidence of any significant decline.[1] Despite this, the northern rosella is an uncommon bird.[21] Grazing by livestock and frequent burning of grassy woodland may have a negative impact on northern rosella numbers.[9] Like most species of parrots, the northern rosella is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) with its placement on the Appendix II list of vulnerable species, which makes the import, export and trade of listed wild-caught animals illegal.[26]

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

  1. ^ . Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  2. .
  3. ^ 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.
  4. .
  5. ^ 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].
  6. ^ 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.
  7. .
  8. ^ Mathews, Gregory M. (1910). "In Proceedings of meeting of British Ornithologists' Club, Nov 16, 1910". Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club. 27: 28.
  9. ^ a b c d e Higgins 1999, p. 368.
  10. .
  11. ^ Mathews, Gregory M. (1912). "Additions and corrections to my Reference List to the Birds of Australia". Austral Avian Records. 1 (2): 25–52 [36].
  12. ^ Gill, Frank; Donsker, David, eds. (2017). "Parrots & cockatoos". World Bird List Version 7.1. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  13. ^ .
  14. ^ a b Kleesh, Ken (1999). "Rosellas; an Australian viewpoint". AFA Watchbird. 26 (2): 26–27.
  15. ^ .
  16. (PDF) on 2008-03-07.
  17. .
  18. ^ a b c d e f g Higgins 1999, p. 364.
  19. ^ a b Higgins 1999, p. 367.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g Higgins 1999, p. 366.
  21. ^ a b c Higgins 1999, p. 365.
  22. ISSN 1037-258X
    .
  23. ^ Higgins 1999, pp. 364–65.
  24. .
  25. (PDF) on 2017-09-04.
  26. ^ "Appendices I, II and III". CITES. 22 May 2009. Archived from the original on 17 March 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2010.
  27. ^ .
  28. .

Cited texts

External links