Red-rumped Parrot
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| Red-rumped Parrot Conservation status: Lower risk (lc) | ||||||||||||||
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| Psephotus haematonotus (Gould, 1838) |
The Red-rumped Parrot, Psephotus haematonotus, is a common bird of south-east Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin. Red-rumped Parrots are slim, elegant, moderate in size at around 26 to 28 cm long, and the sexes are quite distinct from one another. The male is a brilliant emerald-green with yellow underparts, a brick-red rump, and blue highlighs on the wings and upper back. The female is a soft tan or cream overall, with grey-green wings, tail and back and blue wingtips.
Red-rumped Parrots occur in pairs to large flocks anywhere in open country so long as there is access to water. They avoid the coast and the wetter, more heavily timbered areas nearby, but are common inland. Clearing of large tracts of forest and the provision of water for stock has probably extended their range.
Despite the long tail - usually a sign of an arboreal bird - they spend a great deal of time feeding on the ground, often calling to one another with an attractive chee chillip chee chillip.
Like all parrots, they nest in tree hollows or similar places, including fenceposts and stumps. In the south, breeding takes place in spring (August to January); in the dryer inland country it can be any time of year but follows rainfall.