Yesterday, a friend phoned me to come and see a strange parrot hanging around
their garden in Gooseberry Hill area of Perth. He was not a knowledgeable
birder but had recently done the Canning Stock Route in company with a keen
birder who had enthused him somewhat.
The description defeated me and when I later saw the bird, I was equally
mystified. I did not see the bird for long but I did get a good view.
Unfortunately I did not have a bird book with me although in retrospect I don't
think it would have helped.
It appeared to be a cross between an Australian King-Parrot and a Red-winged
Parrot. The head and upper body were a wonderful lime green like an immature
or female red-winged parrot but it also had a crimson lower breast & belly like
a female King-parrot but with much stronger colours more akin to the male. The
bird also had strong crimson wing shoulders and wing coverts - much more colour
than a typical Red-winged Parrot would show. The bill was a neutral buff or
bone colour. I don't remember any blue colour at all.
I spoke to the owner of a local aviary bird business and he indicated that
crosses of these two species were not uncommon but all the photos he showed me
from his books indicated a bird with military-green colouring like a
King-parrot rather than the light lime green I had seen. The photos also
showed birds with far weaker/less definite colours than I had seen.
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