Bird 142 – Crimson Rosella – Bird of the Week

Today I thought we’d take a look at one of my favourite Canberra birds, the Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans)

A common and gorgeous sight here in Canberra, what with their brilliant red plumage, cute little blue cheeks and delightful chattering sounds they make. I defy you to see one and not feel uplifted. Now, I was pretty familiar with these birds before I moved to Canberra, but not long into my residency here, I spotted this green bird.

I’d never seen a parrot like that before, and it drove my mad for a couple of weeks trying to figure out what it was, until I learnt it was a Crimson Rosella too. This is what the babies look like before they take on their red colouring. The lack of black scalloping on their wings, which is distinctive to all Rosellas, also threw me through a loop. No doubt it’s a camouflage strategy the young use.

Snack time for the crimson rosella by Microsoft | Wallpapers ...

The Crimson Rosella also hides in other ways. Have you ever come across a Yellow Rosella or an Adelaide Rosella? For a long time these birds were thought of as distinct species, but in recent years it’s been found that they’re just Crimson Rosellas in different clothes. The Yellow Rosella lives mainly along the Murray River, and the Adelaide Rosella seems to be a hybrid that has sprung up due to Yellow and Crimson ones interbreeding. While their colours are different, the blue cheek they all share is the clue to their common heritage.

That’s all a bit of fun, but the thing I love about the Crimson Rosella is that they’re one of the most compassionate birds getting around. When raising chicks many birds use the ‘heir and a spare’ strategy. They’ll have two chicks, but put all their energy into raising the eldest and only bother with the younger if something happens to the first one. Usually this means the younger one will be killed by its sibling at some point. We saw previously that Shoebills do this.

Not so with the Crimson: not only are the parents inscrutably fair, making sure all their children get an equal portion of food, but if an older chick thinks the younger ones aren’t getting enough it will feed them itself. Crimson Rosellas also mate for life and form strong pair bonds. There was a recent report of a Crimson Rosella stuck in a hole in Canberra. No-one knows how it got in there, but when rescuers arrived, they found its mate had been feeding it for several days to keep it going while trapped.