Scarlet-chested Parrot

Did you know?

The Scarlet-chested Parrot has frequently been found far from water. It may obtain sufficient moisture by drinking dew or chewing water-storing plants such as Calandrinia which grows in the sandy mulga country.

Calls
a soft twittering, mellow and abrupt, not carrying far.
Facts and Figures
Research Species: 
No
Minimum Size: 
18cm
Maximum Size: 
21cm
Average size: 
20cm
Breeding season: 
August to January
Clutch Size: 
3 to 5
Incubation: 
18 days
Nestling Period: 
28 days
Conservation Status
Federal: 
SA: 
WA: 
Basic Information
Scientific Name: 
Featured bird groups: 
Atlas Number: 
303
What does it look like?
Description: 

The male Scarlet-chested Parrot has bright green upper parts, a blue face, throat and cheeks and a scarlet chest, with the rest of the underparts yellow. Its flight feathers are edged deep blue. The central tail feathers are blue-green but the outer tail feathers are blue, broadly tipped with yellow. The female has a paler face and a green breast. Both male and female have a dark brown eye, grey-black cere (the fleshy part at the top of the bill) and bill. Immature birds are similar to the female but duller. This bird can also be called the Splendid Parrot.

Similar species: 

The Turquoise Parrot is similar to the Scarlet-chested Parrot. It is the females which could most easily be confused, as the males are more distinctive. The female Scarlet-chested Parrot has a more extensive cobalt-blue face than the female Turquoise Parrot.

Where does it live?
Distribution: 

The Scarlet-chested Parrot is endemic (only found) to southern inland Australia from southeastern Western Australia through all central and northern South Australia and northern South Australia south to middle of Eyre Peninsula and Murray River, east to extreme southwestern Queensland and Darling River, NSW.

Habitat: 

The Scarlet-chested Parrot is found in open woodlands of eucalypts, she-oak, mulga with spinifex and saltbush.

Seasonal movements: 

This parrot is extremely nomadic, it is scarce but at times locally common, depending on the boom and bust cycles of the arid zone. Birds in the Murray mallee shift south in summer and north in winter.

What does it do?
Feeding: 

The Scarlet-chested Parrot feeds inconspicuously on the ground or in low shrubs, on seeds of grasses and herbaceous plants.

Breeding: 

The Scarlet-chested Parrot breeds mostly from August to January, depending on rain and food supply. Its nest is a hole in a tree, generally a vertical spout in an acacia or small eucalypt.

Living with us

Trapping for avicultue in earlier days has probably contributed to decline of the species.

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