From Opus

Alisterus scapularis

Photo of male by IanC Gold Coast, Australia.

[edit] Identification

42 cm
Male

• Red head, breast, and lower undersides
• Blue lower back
• Green wings and tail
• Beak: reddish-orange upper mandible with a black tip; lower mandible all black
• Yellow eye ring
  

Photo of female by Gary Clark
Denman, New South Wales, Australia, April 2006

Female:

• Green head and breast
• All black upper beak
• Paler yellow eye ring
  

Juvenile: of both sexes resemble the females

[edit] Distribution

An Australian endemic found only along the east coast, mostly east of the Great Dividing Range.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

Two subspecies are recognized:

• A. s. minor:

• Northern Australia (north-eastern Queensland)

• A. s. scapularis:

• Coastal eastern Australia (northern Queensland to southern Victoria)

[edit] Habitat

Tropical and subtropical montane forests, coastal heathland, open Agricultural land with stands of Eucalyptus and gardens.

[edit] Behaviour

The diet includes fruits, seeds and small insects.

Juvenile in it's first moult
Photo by Nrg800
Sydney New South Wales

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. Wikipedia
3. BF Member observations

• List of references

[edit] External Links

• Arthur Grosset's Birds