Cape Leeuwin Lighthouse, Augusta-Margaret River, Western Australia, 31 August 2018
- Neophema petrophila
Identification
22 cms (8¾ in)
Male
- Brownish-olive upperparts
- Yellow underparts
- Dark blue forehead
- Blue facial mask (extending slightly past the eye)
- Blue bend of wing and flight feathers
Female: duller. Immature: duller, less blue; pale wing-stripe in flight.
Variations
Some individuals have an orange patch on the belly.
Distribution
Endemic to Australia. Can be found in coastal South Australia, between Kingston and Ceduna and southern Western Australia from Cape Arid National Park to Geraldton.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species[1].
Some refer to 2 subspecies; petrophila in Western Australia and zietzi in South Australia. Zietzi has a darker blue frontal band.
Habitat
They are only found on coastlines and offshore rocky islands. It frequents coastal dunes, mangroves, saline swamps and rocky islets. Rarely seen more than a few hundred metres from the sea.
Behaviour
Breeding
They nest in crevices in low cliff, rockface or overhang, mostly on small islands. Their clutch contains 3 to 6 eggs, with incubation taking between 18 and 21 days. Only the hen incubates. Young are independent in 4-5 weeks.
They will sometimes double brood, but the second nest often fails due to excess heat.
Diet
Their diet consists mainly of seeds and fruits of grasses, shrubs and succulent plants.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Parrot Society.org
- Birds in Backyards. http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Neophema-petrophila
- Collar, N. and P. F. D. Boesman (2020). Rock Parrot (Neophema petrophila), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.rocpar1.01
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Rock Parrot. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 26 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Rock_Parrot
External Links
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
