Crimson Rosella

The Crimson Rosella is a large, richly colored parrot whose adult plumage is an almost uniform, deep crimson red across the head, neck, and underparts, offset by vivid blue cheek patches, blue flight feathers, and a long blue-black tail. The feathers of the back and wings are black, broadly edged with crimson, giving a subtly scalloped texture to the upperparts.

Juveniles look completely different from adults: they are mostly olive-green with only patches of red appearing on the forehead and underparts, gradually acquiring full crimson plumage over about 12 to 15 months. This dramatic change in appearance, combined with regional color variants (some populations show more orange or yellow tones), has led to a confusing history of subspecies and local names.

Key field marks

• Overall deep crimson-red body plumage in adults
• Bright blue cheek patches, wing coverts, and flight feathers
• Black back feathers broadly scalloped with crimson
• Long, blue-black tail
• Juveniles mostly green with red patches, molting to full red over more than a year

Similar species

• Eastern Rosella: red confined to head/breast, with white (not blue) cheek patches and a yellow-green back.
• Adelaide Rosella: an intergrade population between Crimson and Yellow Rosella showing orange-red tones, found in the Adelaide Hills region.
• Yellow Rosella: a paler yellow subspecies/form found along the Murray River, sometimes considered part of this species.

Habitat

Crimson Rosellas favor wetter forest types than many other rosellas, including tall eucalypt forest, rainforest margins, and densely vegetated gullies, but they also thrive in parks, gardens, and picnic areas where they can become quite tame.

Range

The species occurs along the east coast and ranges of Australia from southeastern Queensland through New South Wales and Victoria to southeastern South Australia, with an introduced population established around Perth in Western Australia and in parts of New Zealand.

Migration

Crimson Rosellas are generally sedentary, with some altitudinal movement to lower, milder elevations during harsh winters in mountainous parts of their range.

Behavior

Usually encountered in pairs or small flocks, Crimson Rosellas forage both in the tree canopy and on the ground, and are famously confiding in picnic areas and gardens, sometimes taking food directly from people's hands.

Voice

The flight call is a distinctive, repeated "cussick-cussick" or bell-like piping, while feeding birds give soft, conversational chattering notes.

Feeding

Diet includes eucalypt and other native seeds, fruits, nectar, blossoms, and insects and their larvae, gleaned from both foliage and the ground.

Nesting and breeding

Nests are built in deep tree hollows, sometimes many meters above the ground, lined with wood dust. Clutches usually contain five to six white eggs incubated solely by the female for around three weeks, with young fledging roughly five weeks after hatching.