Karen Bayly wrote:
>
> Hello Oz birdos
>
> We have been observing a variety of parrots at Macquarie University as
> part of a project on bird vocalisations. We have a very peculiar
> visitor which looks like a hybrid between a Crimson Rosella and an
> Eastern Rosella. Forshaw & Cooper state that hybrids of these two
> species are rare. Nevertheless we often find ourselves staring at a
> bird with a crimson head, abdomen and vent, lilac cheek patches,
> yellow sides to the body (just showing under folded wings), and a
> back, tail and wing colouration that is very similar to that of an
> Eastern Rosella.
>
> This bird is usually seen feeding alone and is quite aggressive toward
> Crimson Rosellas (interactions with Easterns not yet noted).
>
> Has any one else ever seen a bird similar to this? Is it a hybrid,
> some weird colour variation of Eastern Rosella not commonly noted in
> the standard birding books or an avicultured colour variant?
>
> Sylvia Halkin
> c/- Karen Bayly
> *************************************************** Karen L. Bayly Ecology
> Lab School of Biological Sciences MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY NSW 2109 Phone: 61 2
> 9850-8191 or 61 2 9850-9441 Fax: 61 2 9850-8245 Email:
> OR
Rosella hybrids are certainly posible and some years ago I observed a
bird which was clearly a hybrid between a Ringneck and an Eastern
Rosella on the Yarra at Ivanhoe (Vic). I have often seen a mixed pair of
Esatern Rosellas and Ringnecks in a suburban park in Kew - doubtless the
original Ringneck was an escapee. I reported this bird to Alan McEvey
of Museum of Victoria who agreed with my identification and remarked
that aviculturists have been known to try a lot of hybrids in the effort
to produce an imitation Paradise Parrot for profit!
However there is a colour form of the Eastern Rosella which is almost
all red. Gould had a skin which he believed to be a new species and
illustrated it as "Platycercus ignitus". His plate shows an almost
all-red bird with white cheeks; scaly pattern on the back is black with
yellow margins; wings blue with black flights and a white panel in upper
part of primaries; wing linings white with black stripe; tail blue with
red centre feathers(No yellow on the sides). A fairly recent edition of
Australian Bird Watcher (pub.by BOCA) gave a colour photo of a wild bird
in the Heathcote area but I cant find my copy just now. Apparently this
colour morph is known in captivity and only occurs in females.
I hope you can photograph your mystery parrot. It sounds a beauty.
Best wishes, Anthea Fleming.
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