Rosella
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Rosellas are in a genus that consists of six
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
and nineteen subspecies. These colourful
parrots Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (), are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet. They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genus (biology), genera, found mostly in ...
from Australia are in the genus ''Platycercus''. ''Platycercus'' means "broad-tailed" or "flat-tailed", reflecting a feature common to the rosellas and other members of the
broad-tailed parrot A broad-tailed parrot is any of about 35–40 species belonging to the tribe Platycercini. The members of the tribe are small to medium in size, and all are native to Australasia, Australia in particular, but also New Zealand, New Caledonia, and n ...
tribe. Their diet is mainly seeds and fruit.


Taxonomy

The genus was described by naturalist
Nicholas Aylward Vigors Nicholas Aylward Vigors (1785 – 26 October 1840) was an Ireland, Irish zoologist and politician. He popularized the classification of birds on the basis of the quinarian system. Early life Vigors was born at Old Leighlin, County Carlow, in 1 ...
in 1825; the name ''Platycercus'' derived from the
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
''platykerkos'' meaning "broad-" or "flat-tailed", from ''platys'' "broad, wide, level, flat" and ''kerkos'' "tail of a beast"., , . The relationships with other parrots have been unclear, with the Australian ringneck (genus '' Barnardius'') cited as a closest relative by some, and the genus ''
Psephotus The red-rumped parrot (''Psephotus haematonotus''), also known as the red-backed parrot or grass parrot, is a medium-sized broad-tailed parrot endemic to open woodland in south-eastern Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin. It is ...
'' by others; the plumage of the western rosella seen as a link to the latter genus.Early European settlers encountered the eastern rosella at
Rose Hill, New South Wales Parramatta (; ) is a suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is commonly regarded as the secondary central business dist ...
, now
Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...
, and so they called it the Rosehill
parakeet A parakeet is any one of many small- to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple genera, that generally has long tail feathers. Etymology and naming The name ''parakeet'' is derived from the French word ''perroquet'', which is reflect ...
which became "Rosehiller", and eventually "rosella". Vigors defined the genus ''Platycercus'' in 1825, based on the distinctive architecture of the feathers in the tail and wing, and designated the crimson rosella ''
Platycercus elegans The crimson rosella (''Platycercus elegans'') is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. The ...
'' (as ''Platycercus pennantii'') as the
type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
. The description as a flat or broad tail follows
Heinrich Kuhl Heinrich Kuhl (17 September 1797 – 14 September 1821) was a German people, German naturalist and zoologist. Kuhl was born in Hanau (Hesse, Germany). Between 1817 and 1820, he was the assistant of professor Th. van Swinderen, docent of natural ...
, who separated his psittacine specimens to a group with tails that were "narrow and cuneated", that is, a tapering wedged outline. There are, broadly speaking, three groups of rosella species. They are the blue-cheeked species which includes ''elegans'' and ''caledonicus'', the white-cheeked species, ''eximius'', ''adscitus'' and ''venustus'' and the yellow-cheeked species, ''icterotis''. The observed difference in plumage has been reinforced by molecular studies in 1987 and 2015 that place the ''icterotis'' as a basal offshoot. There are six species and many subspecies: Ovenden and colleagues analysed mitochondrial DNA, confirming the blue-cheeked and white-cheeked lineages. They found ''P. caledonicus'' to be basal to the other blue-cheeked forms, with ''P. elegans nigrescens'' being divergent from other subspecies of ''P. elegans''. Also, ''P. venustus'' was basal to ''P. eximius'' and ''P. adscitus''. However, a mitochondrial study published in 2017 found that ''P. eximius'' was the earlier offshoot of the lineage that split into ''P. adscitus'' and ''P. venustus'', and that nonsister taxa were hence able to hybridise. In 2015, Ashlee Shipham and colleagues published a molecular study based on nuclear DNA finding that ''P. venustus'' and ''P. adscitus'' were sister species, and that ''P. elegans nigrescens'' diverged earlier than ''P. caledonicus''.


Description

Ranging in size from , rosellas are medium-sized parrots with long tails. The feathers on their backs show an obvious scalloping appearance with colouring that differs between the species. All species have distinctive cheek patches.
Sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...
is absent or slight – males and females generally have similar plumage, apart from the
western rosella The western rosella (''Platycercus icterotis''), or moyadong, is a species of parrot endemic to southwestern Australia. The head and underparts are bright red, and the back is mottled black; a yellow patch at the cheek distinguishes it from oth ...
. The juveniles of the blue-cheeked species, and western rosella, all have a distinctive green-based plumage, while immature plumage of the white-cheeked species is merely a duller version of the adults.


Distribution and habitat

Rosellas are native to Australia and nearby islands, where they inhabit forests, woodlands, farmlands, and suburban parks and gardens. They are confined to the coastal mountains and plains and are absent from the
outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than Australian bush, the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastli ...
. Introduced populations have also established themselves in
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
(notably in the
North Island The North Island ( , 'the fish of Māui', historically New Ulster) is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but less populous South Island by Cook Strait. With an area of , it is the List ...
and in north
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
) and on
Norfolk Island Norfolk Island ( , ; ) is an States and territories of Australia, external territory of Australia located in the Pacific Ocean between New Zealand and New Caledonia, directly east of Australia's Evans Head, New South Wales, Evans Head and a ...
.


Behaviour and ecology

Rosellas feed predominantly on seeds and fruit, with food held in the foot. They enjoy bathing in puddles of water in the wild and in captivity. Rosellas scratch their heads with the foot behind the wing. Mutual preening is not exhibited by the genus, and the courtship display is simple; the male waves his tail sideways, and engages in some head bobbing, and the female reciprocates. Like most parrots, they are cavity nesters, generally nesting high in older large trees in forested areas. They generally have a
clutch size A clutch of eggs is the group of eggs produced by birds, amphibians, or reptiles, often at a single time, particularly those laid in a nest. In birds, destruction of a clutch by predators (or removal by humans, for example the California condor b ...
of several eggs which are incubated for around 21 days by the female alone. The male feeds the female through this time and for some time after incubation concludes. Quickly covered in a white down, chicks take around five weeks to
fledge Fledging is the stage in a flying animal's life between egg, hatching or birth and becoming capable of flight. This term is most frequently applied to birds, but is also used for bats. For altricial birds, those that spend more time in vulnera ...
.


Aviculture

The more colourful rosella species are popular as pet parrots and also as aviary birds. They can live for longer than 20 years, and they are relatively easy to breed. All have a reputation for being aggressive in captivity, and are hence recommended be kept separate from other caged birds. Their diet in aviculture includes seeds, fruit such as apple, pear, and grapes, and vegetable matter such as lettuce, grass, and silver beet.


References


Cited texts

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External links

* {{Authority control Platycercus Endemic birds of Australia