Some
further information re the Psittacula parrot seen some weeks ago at Point Cook, Victoria.
Paul Barden, who was with me and who photographed the bird (unfortunately essentially
only a dark silhouette against the early morning sky - although the
accompanying Crested Pigeon and Magpie-Lark silhouettes are of assistance re
size) wrote the following to me (and is happy for me to reproduce it here):
“I supplied the photos of the bird to a number of
colleagues and while it was noted that they were poor quality, a number of
relevant comments were provided. The general consensus was that the bird
was a P. krameri (Indian) Rose-ringed Parakeet immature or female, and
Alexandrine was ruled out based on our own observations recorded at the time,
as well as size and body shape from the photographs. Having the other birds
next to it provided a good estimation of the size, etc. Most of the birds in
captivity in Australia
are of the Indian subspecies borealis. The potential for this species to form
viable feral populations has been documented, as noted by Michael Norris".
If
anyone wishes to take the matter of this particular parrot further please feel
free to contact Paul or me direct.
Richard
Nowotny
Richard NOWOTNY
Port Melbourne,
Victoria
M: 0438 224456
