Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius) lives in woodland forests across Eastern Australia, Tasmania, South Australia. Its conservation status is Least Concern.
Fascinating facts about the Eastern Rosella
- The eastern rosella first arrived in New Zealand as a captive bird, not a natural migrant. Its first introduction occurred around 1910 when a small shipment was stopped by customs, and the birds were released off Otago Heads by the ship's crew. A later escape of about twelve captive birds from damaged cages in Dunedin also added to the founding population, allowing the species to establish wild colonies.
- Eastern rosellas sample an astonishing variety of foods, recorded from fifty plant species and fifteen animal species. Being an arboreal bird, they feed on grass seeds, buds, flowers, nectar, fruits and also insects and their larvae. Their diet includes both native and exotic plants such as eucalypts, ngaio, willow, poplar and karaka, giving them the flexibility to thrive in diverse habitats across Australia and New Zealand.
- A pair can raise as many as twelve chicks in a single breeding season. Female rosellas lay five to six eggs at one-to-three-day intervals, usually in mid-November to mid-December, and the eggs incubate for eighteen to twenty-two days. After hatching, chicks fledge about a month later and become largely independent by forty days, allowing two broods per season to reach the twelve-offspring maximum.
- When another rosella nests nearby, the resident often destroys the intruder's eggs. They are so territorial that they will destroy the eggs of any conspecific that nests too close.
- In Otago the rosella numbers fell sharply after accidental strychnine poisoning meant for rabbits, a toxin that killed many birds unintentionally. Capture for the pet trade added further pressure, accelerating the decline.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.
At a glance
RangeEastern Australia, Tasmania, South Australia
HabitatWoodland forests
DietSeeds and fruits
About the Eastern Rosella
In the sun-dappled woodlands of eastern Australia, the Eastern Rosella flashes like a fleck of gemstone, its iridescent plumage glowing with an inner light as it flits between the trees. With a nimble flutter of its wings, this parrot navigates the intricate lattice of branches, its bright eyes scanning the forest floor for the seeds and fruits that sustain it. As it moves, its feathers seem to shift and shimmer, casting a mesmerizing spell of colour and light that is quintessentially Australian.
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