Hello Michael and others
Michael Todd wrote
> Is there any chance that these Turquoise Parrots could be aviary escapees?
> Others may know more about this- but I think that there is an aviary-bred
> Turquoise mutation with red/ orange belly.
Apart from obviously the Orange-bellied Parrot, the presence of orange on
the belly can be seen with some wild Rock, Elegant, Blue-wing, Turquoise and
possibly Scarlet-chested Parrots. I remember seeing a flock of 30 or so
Turquoise Parrots coming to drink at Rockview in the Capertee Valley and
seeing orange patches on the belly on some of these birds and I am sure
others ahve seen this. It is quoted also in the Slater's field guide. Two of
the parrots seen at Laughtondale Gully appeared to have quite a fair bit of
orange on the belly and restricted only on this part of the bird. Otherwise,
all parrots seen exhibited the same plumage characteristics of a normal wild
Turquoise Parrots. Also judging by the behaviour of the birds seen (very
alert and requiring caution to approach them closely), judging by this they
are very unlikely to be captive birds. There are still several other wild
Turquoise Parrots exisitng just outside Sydney as in the Blue Mountains (a
few recent reports of a flock at Yarramundi and relatively recently at
Winmallee) and on the western parts of the central coast. I have also seen
one at Scheyville NP, which is about 15 - 20 km south of Laughtondale.
Edwin
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