Green Rosella
A species of Rosellas Scientific name : Platycercus caledonicus Genus : Rosellas
Green Rosella, A species of Rosellas
Botanical name: Platycercus caledonicus
Genus: Rosellas
Content
Description General Info
Photo By Aviceda , used under CC-BY-SA-3.0 /Cropped and compressed from original 
Description
The green rosella is the largest member of the rosella genus. Measuring from 29 to 36 cm (11 to 14 in) in length, an adult has long narrow wings with a wingspan of 44–54 cm (17–21 in), and a long tail with twelve feathers, the central two of which are wider. The adult male is heavier, averaging around 150 g (5.3 oz) to the female's 120 g (4.2 oz), and has a larger bill. The adult green rosella has a yellow head and underparts with blue cheeks and red band on the forehead and upper lores. The yellow feathers of the forecrown, lower lores, cheeks, chest and thighs can have red markings, while the yellow feathers of the sides and rear of the head and neck, and the underparts have dark brown bases. The edges of the feathers on the underparts can be pale brown, resulting in a faint scalloping, which disappears with wear. Some of the yellow feathers of the nape have white bases and when worn, the bird can have a whitish patch on their nape. The yellow of the back of the head merges indistinctly into the dark plumage of the hindneck, mantle and back, which is black or dark brown with green margins. The feathers of the shoulders are blackish with yellow tips. These margins and tips are often worn by the finish of breeding season, leaving the plumage more solid black. The blue-violet feathers of the chin, throat and cheeks have brown-black bases. The blackish plumage of the back extends to the rump, and the long tail is dark green with brown shafts and dark blue outer feathers and tips. The wings are mostly black and green, with violet-blue marginal coverts, primary coverts, and alula, and blue-tinted dark brown primaries and outer secondaries. Underneath the feathers of the wings are dark brown with blue-violet tips. The iris is brown with a dark grey orbital ring, and the bill is pale-grey, with a dark grey cere. The legs are grey. The yellow plumage of the female is duller and more likely marked with red than that of the male, and the green edges to the black plumage of the upperparts are more prominent. Young birds leaving the nest have juvenile plumage in their first year of life. Juveniles have a dark green head and neck, upperparts and underparts. The feathers all have dark brown bases. The wings are predominantly dark brown and black with a blue sheen. The wings and tail are shorter than those of adult birds. The bill may have a buff sheen. They have an under-wing stripe, which is not present in the adults. Moulting generally takes place between January and April for birds of all ages. Juvenile birds then adopt immature plumage, which is similar but with patches of yellow feathers on the underparts of adult plumage as well as some adult-coloured wing feathers. Some green juvenile feathers remain until the bird is in its second year of age, though are very worn by this time. 
Size
36 cm
Nest Placement
Tree
Feeding Habits
Green Rosella primarily feeds on a variety of seeds, nuts, fruits, flowers, and occasionally insects. They forage in pairs or groups, deftly handling food with their left feet, and exhibit both arboreal and ground feeding behaviors.
Habitat
Green Rosella occupies temperate region habitats up to 1500 m elevation, favoring temperate rainforests, wet and dry sclerophyll forests, and savanna woodlands. This bird is also found in shrublands, coastal heaths, and adapts to human-altered environments like orchards and urban parks. Their ecological niche mainly spans the canopy layer, though they are adaptable to various vegetative structures.
Dite type
Herbivorous
General Info
Feeding Habits
Bird food type
Behavior
Green rosellas are generally encountered in pairs or small groups, though young birds may gather in groups of 20 or more outside the breeding season. They sometimes share the company of eastern rosellas. They fly in a straight line, making rapid shallow wingbeats and gliding briefly in between. The green rosella has a repeated two-syllable contact call, which has been written as kussik kussik or cossack cossack and is heard in flight. When perched, it utters a rising kwik-kweek kwik-kweek contact call. Birds also make a chattering call during courtship. They can screech shrilly when alarmed.
Distribution Area
Found across Tasmania and Bass Strait islands, the green rosella is one of the commonest birds encountered. It also occurs on offshore islands such as Maria, Bruny, De Witt and Maatsuyker Islands. Its movements have not been much studied. Although possibly locally nomadic in places, the green rosella is sedentary; even birds at higher altitudes do not migrate. It has become rare on King Island, due to land clearing and possibly competition with the introduced common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) for nesting sites. During breeding season there it is restricted to the Pegarah forest, though may venture elsewhere at other times. It lives in most habitats with some form of tree cover up to 1500 m (5000 ft) above sea level. These include temperate beech rainforest (where it generally keeps to the canopy), wet and dry sclerophyll forest, woodland, Melaleuca shrubland, coastal heath, dwarf alpine conifer forest, sedgeland, buttongrass moors, tussock grassland, as well as fields, orchards and urban parks and gardens.
Species Status
Gould noted that early Tasmanian settlers regarded the abundant green rosella highly as food; he agreed that it was very tasty after trying it himself. Many farmers saw the species as a pest of orchards, and green rosellas were shot. In 2016, the green rosella was rated as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered species. This was on the basis of its large range—greater than 20,000 km (7700 mi)—and small rate of decline in population. The King Island subspecies is listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 as vulnerable, and its population thought to number fewer than 500 birds. Around 70% of King Island's native vegetation has been cleared, and the remainder is highly fragmented and at risk of too-frequent bushfires. Like most species of parrots, the green rosella is protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) with its placement on the Appendix II list of vulnerable species, which makes the import, export, and trade of listed wild-caught animals illegal.
Scientific Classification
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