Red-rumped Parrot.
Photo: Purnell Collection © Australian Museum
Red-rumped Parrot, male.
Photo: Purnell Collection © Australian Museum
Red-rumped Parrot, female, feeding on the ground.
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka / Bird Explorers © K Vang and W Dabrowka / Bird Explorers
Distribution map of Psephotus haematonotus
Map © Birds Australia Birdata
Red-rumped Parrot
Scientific name: Psephotus haematonotus
Family: Psittacidae
Order: Psittaciformes
- Featured Bird Groups
- Parrots
What does it look like?
Description
Red-rumped Parrots are medium-sized, slender parrots. The adult male is bright green, with a blue-green head, a red rump, and yellow shoulders and belly. The female is a duller, olive-green, with a green rump and faint yellow or light green scales on the belly. Young birds of both sexes are duller in colour.
Similar species
The similar Mulga Parrot, P. varius has a yellow band above the bill, a red patch on the nape of its neck, a light green band across the upper rump. It has a smaller, darker red patch on the upper tail, in both sexes, which is also much lower than the red rump of the Red-rumped Parrot, which only appears on the male.
Where does it live?
Distribution
The Red-rumped Parrot is found in south-eastern Australia, throughout most of New South Wales (less so on the coast) and Victoria, with an isolated population in north-eastern South Australia and south-western Queensland. Aviary escapes may have increased populations in some areas, especially around the Central Coast and Sydney, New South Wales.
Habitat
The Red-rumped Parrot is found in open grasslands or lightly timbered plains, as well as along watercourses and in mallee farmlands with access to water.
Seasonal movements
Sedentary.
What does it do?
Feeding
The Red-rumped Parrot feeds in pairs or small flocks on the ground, preferring seeds and leaves of grasses. It also will feed on seeds, fruits and flowers in trees. Often seen feeding in suburban parks around Melbourne. They will feed with other parrots, including Eastern Rosellas and Galahs.
Breeding
Red-rumped Parrots mate for life. The female chooses and prepares the nesting site, usually a hollow in a eucalypt tree (but will sometimes use a nest-box or other artificial site). Eggs are laid on a decayed wood bed and the female incubates the eggs while the male regularly feeds her. The young can be fed for a while after they fledge.
Living with us
Living with humans
The Red-rumped Parrot is often hit by cars when feeding by roads, and is often killed by domestic pets, especially cats.
References
Higgins, P.J. (ed) 1999. Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds, Volume 4 (Parrots to Dollarbird). Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
Simpson, K and Day, N. 1999. Field guide to the birds of Australia, 6th Edition. Penguin Books, Australia.