He was with a pair of galahs on the median strip. I took a quick shot through the car window but I still collected 3 beeps for holding the traffic up.
The bird is shades of green with a small red patch on its shoulder. The beak is also red.
The tail is very long. I haven't seen anything like it.
Regds, Peter M. (Postcode 3076)
Hi Peter with a tail that long, I am thinking a domestic escapee. Postcode 3076 - Victoria, can you be more specific about a suburb or town location? Hopefully someon more expert will know.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Domestic escape. Looks like a Indian ring neck, a green one.
Wimmera mally region, Vic.
Thanks for responding.
Yes, an escapee seemed the most likely to me but I thought an identification would nail it.
As for the location, it was the corner of O'Herns Rd and Miller St, Epping - in the median strip. GR -37.636967, 145.021579. I was first car at the lights and there it was in the grass with two galahs. A lonely life ahead if it is a stray, but probably not worse than a solo cage bird. If you use street view I was pretty much where the black Honda CRV is in the picture. Hope that helps.
Regds, Peter M.
Showed a friend, given your description of the red shoulders, thinks most likely a variation of Alexandrine Parakeet which is a larger version of the Indian Ringneck and African ringneck as Ligtnunungbird (thanks for pointing me the right way!) suggests. I knew I had seen that species before, just couldn’t place where (a former friend had one many years ago).
My information sourced from Wikipedia, link below.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandrine_parakeet
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks again. There's not much to choose between the ringneck and the Alexandrine. The latter's colours seem more of a contrast, which matches my memory.
I'll keep my eye out for it but the galahs are very mobile and disappear for days or weeks at a time.
Regds, Peter M.