Fwd: Bowerbird obsession with blue?

["Julie Hotchin via Canberrabirds " <>]

Hi Kim,

Yes, that's it. The Rosehill Parakeet is an early colonial name for the Eastern Rosella and Crimson Rosellas are also known as Pennant's Parakeets or Pennantian Parrot, after Thomas Pennant, an eighteenth-century Welsh naturalist (from Australian Bird Names: Origins and Meanings by Ian Fraser and Jeannie Gray). 

Julie

On Wed, 19 Nov 2025, 9:01 am Kim Farley via Canberrabirds, <> wrote:

A nice post and pic, Geoffrey. Presumably the Rose-hill Parakeet is the Eastern Rosella?  But what is the Pennantian Parrakeet? Crimson Rosella perhaps? 

Kim

On Wed, Nov 19, 2025 at 8:45 AM Geoffrey Dabb via Canberrabirds <> wrote:

Relevant evidence is provided by Gould’s Birds of Australia (1848), lithograph by J & E Gould.  Gould refers to ‘blue tail feathers of the Rose-hill and Pennantian Parrakeets, bleached bones, the shells of snails, & c.’.  Gould shows the skull of  a small animal.  Perhaps an antechinus?  An expert might be able to identify it from the dentition, and tell us if it is one of the small mammals that have become extinct since European occupation of the continent or, disappointingly, merely an arrival with the First Fleet.

 

 

From: Canberrabirds <> On Behalf Of Rob Geraghty via Canberrabirds
Sent: Tuesday, 18 November 2025 9:45 PM
To: ben milbourne <>
Cc: Canberra birds <>
Subject: Re: [Canberrabirds] Bowerbird obsession with blue?

 

I saw a bower in the Brisbane Ranges years ago which was a long way from people. It was decorated with snail shells, rocks and blue native tobacco flowers. 

Nothing artificial. 

 

On Tue, 18 Nov 2025, 19:54 ben milbourne via Canberrabirds, <> wrote:

Curious ... What did bowerbirds collect prior to the availability of blue manmade objects?

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