The Australian King Parrot – Alisterus scapularis is a large, well-known, and iconic Australian parrot, Australia’s largest true parrot. Referring to members of the Psittacidae family, which excludes the much larger cockatoos.
There are 3 species of King Parrot globally, the Australian King Parrot, the Moluccan King Parrot and the Papuan King Parrot. The Australian King Parrot is the only one found in Australia and lives in rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests across eastern Australia, from Cooktown in Queensland to Port Campbell in Victoria.
The adult male has a completely red head, while females have a completely green head. Both have a red belly, green back, green wings, and a long green tail. Juvenile birds are very similar to adult females but have dark eyes and a light-coloured beak.
With the use of an ultraviolet light, some wing feathers appear a glowing yellow, as King Parrots and many other bird species possess tetrachromatic vision, meaning they have a fourth cone in their retina that allows them to see into the ultraviolet spectrum. Humans only have 3 retina cones.
Australian King Parrots mostly hang around in pairs or family groups. They lay 2-6 eggs in deep hollows of old-growth forests during spring. After around 20 days of incubation, both parents share the responsibility of feeding the chicks and continue to feed them for some time after they have fledged from the nest.
Known as altitudinal migrants, many will descend from high forested elevations to farmland, coastal regions, parks and gardens to avoid the harsh cold of Winter and seek more abundant food sources of seeds and fruit, returning to the highlands in Spring. Many of these migrating birds are immature and can be seen in flocks of 30 individuals.
They have a noticeable flute-like contact whistle, and in flight, make an abrupt karr-ack screech, repeating with slight variations.
Colac Birder 