Well, as we are reminded from time to time, this is a discussion list where people air their views on the birds of the ACT and the surrounding region. The turq is of course, for reasons to do with some notable sightings, one of the “Nine Birds That Excite Canberrans”. Here are a couple of slides from that presentation: 
From the viewpoint of its nominal range the turq is much more likely to be recorded around here than a Blue-winged, and I note from the BA atlas that northerly records of the Blue-winged are more likely in Autumn than Spring. None of this is to say that John did not see a Blue-winged Parrot. I wonder, however, if there are any other records of a naturally-occurring one around Canberra. At this point, ever-faithful to his cue, I would expect the ever-helpful Steve Wallace to offer one of his informative little tables. From: John Harris [
Sent: Friday, 11 October 2013 3:59 PM
To: Philip Veerman
Cc: Chris; Julian Teh; <>
Subject: [canberrabirds] Re: Blue-winged Parrot Hi Phillip, Yes it I agree, it is a demeaning name but I had relies in the 'bird-fancier' business and kept birds in my teenage years. I am now more interested in observing them in the wild, of course. We had a lot of unscientific nicknames for various birds. 'Turkey' was just a trade abbreviation among aviculturalists I suspect. I think my uncle advertised them as Turquoisines. He bred other colours. One variation was called Opaline and yellow forms with no blue at all fetched a high price. So Turquoise could be a misnomer in the trade anyway! Life has a way of coming full circle because whether Turkey is demeaning or not, it remains true that the word turquoise derives from an old word meaning Turkish stone! Yes they are lovely birds, long among my favourites. John
As for possibly being an escaped elegant parrot from the walk-in aviary in gold creek well maybe but surely we would need to consider, that is not the only venue in Canberra where Neophemas are kept, and further to this, if it is an escaper, is the possibility of it being a hybrid, in which case it may be intermediate or show a mix of species characters. I was interested in this: Oh and I forgot, its flight was direct and swift, not erratic like the Turquoise Parrot. I wonder how different such a feature is between species. I notice Pizzey's book mentions flight patterns and says for Blue-winged Parrot "other neophemas fly similarly". I am not and I suspect you would need to be really familiar with each of them to pick that difference, if there is one. I believe for decades many aviculturalists call them Turquoisines. I can't imagine why they need the extra syllable, but "Turkeys" is a surely demeaning name for such a cute little parrot. -----Original Message-----
From: John Harris [mailto:john.harris@biblesociety.org.au]
Sent: Friday, 11 October 2013 1:42 PM
To: Chris
Cc: Julian Teh; <m("canberrabirds.org.au","canberrabirds");">>
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] Blue-winged Parrot Thanks Chris. Yes a possibility I guess. But the green was dull even in the sun when i first saw it. Turkeys as we used to call Turquoise Parrots when I was a kid (a very long time ago) are very bright in the sun. I will keep an eye out for it but unless I see it again there will be no additional information. I judge it to be a Blue-winged Parrot and I am not sue that replacing that ID with another equally unusual bird proves anything much! Put it this way, I saw an unusual but not impossible parrot and from what I saw and from past experience, I judged it to be a Blue-winged parrot. I don't mind if the rarities panel accepts it or not! It was SOMETHING unusual and it made my morning. Thanks for being interested John
Hi John, what about female Turquoise Parrot as an alternative? Did you see the frontal band on the forehead or could it have had a blue face? Just to note, due to it's proximity to Nicholls, this could be an escaped elegant parrot from the walk-in aviary in gold creek. Unlikely, seeing as the elegants are kept within an aviary of their own inside the main walkthrough, but still possible. Today I saw a Blue-winged Parrot behind my house at Nicholls which backs onto Ginnninderra Creek. I have submitted an unusual bird report. It was a small dull olive green parrot with bright blue wings which shone in the sun. It was feeding on the grass but when disturbed flew up into a grove of wattles and grevilleas. I watched it hiding there with binoculars for about 5 minutes. In the shade it looked more like a blackish bird with blue wings. It made high pitched squeaks. After 5 minutes I tried to get closer and spooked it and it it flew west to the woodland trees on Percival Hill. It flew straight and fast, not undulating like Eastern Rosella etc. Plenty of Easterns around as well as Red-rumps and juvenile Crimsons which were the only unlikely candidates for wrong identification. I tried to follow but lost it. I raised one as a kid. It had fallen from a nest before it could fly. I had it for some years.
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