Green Rosella

Platycercus caledonicus brownii

Length: 32-38 cm

Identification: A blue-cheeked rosella with red forehead; yellow head and underparts; dark green back with black mottling; shoulder, leading edge of wing and tail blue. Male: Brighter yellow. Female: Greener, duller.

Habits: Pairs, autumn-winter flocks. Forages for seeds, flowers, fruit at all levels from ground to canopy of tall eucalypts. Strong, fast flight.

Habitat: Dry and wet eucalypt forests, King Island scrub, shelterbelts, homestead gardens.
Nests in tree-hollows. In absence of tree-hollows nests in disused buildings and concealed forks of tree trunks.

Range and Status: Occurs throughout King Island, particularly in forests in centre, south-east and south. Uncommon 40 years ago but now more common breeding resident. The King Island subspecies is Vulnerable (3).

Special Management: Monitor population size. Protect, manage and restore eucalypt forest to provide present and future tree-hollows and cavities. Erect nest-boxes.

Last Updated on 26 August 2021