More Wild Parrots

[GreenCheek]

Those are great pictures, thanks for sharing! Man, how I would love to move to Australia! So much awesome wildlife, it'd be like a dream come true! Unfortunately I have too many exotic pets (I'm assuming import of any animal is terribly strict), and want an outlawed dog breed . They'd never let me in there, haha. But I'm definitely gonna vacation there one of these days! You guys are so lucky!

 

[HRH Di]

I am so freakin' jealous! I love wildlife. We went camping over this past weekend and I was all excited to see the little gray squirrels at the state park because they're different than the brown squirrels we have here at home.

 

[parrotqueen]

Way to go, Ben! Even more fantastic pictures. Wow, those cockatoos are so beautiful aren't they. What a sight to see!

Believe it or not, that rosella is a crimson rosella; it's the yellow race.

 

[Quantumcat]

The yellow rosellas and adelaide rosellas are subspecies of the crimson rosella. The scientific name for the crimsons is Playcercus elegans elegans, and the yellow is P. elegans flaveolus, while the adelaide is a hybrid of crimsons and yellows. The yellow roselaa basically looks exactly like a crimson except every red part is replaced with yellow. Adelaides are yellow with various patches of red depending on how much crimson or yellow is in their ancestry.

There are other subspecies of crimsons, P.e. nigrescens and P.e. malenoptera, nigrescens live in the north-east of queensland and are the smallest while malenoptera lives on Kangaroo Island and is the largest, both of them look like normal crimsons but are a little darker.

So anyway, Ben was right to start with, it IS a crimson, just a subspecies: a yellow rosella

Speaking of squirrels: I went on a round-the-world trip with my boyfriend a few years ago, part of it we went to LA, San Franscisco and Las Vegas, and I was sooo excited about seeing a live squirrel, I waited and waited, and never saw one!!! I guess I didn't go to the right place :'-(

I also wanted to see badgers and foxes and deer which I got to see in france, yay! even though apparently we have deer and foxes introduced here I've never seen any.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Believe it or not, that rosella is a crimson rosella; it's the yellow race.

Yeehah! I do have a brain

The yellow rosellas and adelaide rosellas are subspecies of the crimson rosella. The scientific name for the crimsons is Playcercus elegans elegans, and the yellow is P. elegans flaveolus, while the adelaide is a hybrid of crimsons and yellows. The yellow roselaa basically looks exactly like a crimson except every red part is replaced with yellow. Adelaides are yellow with various patches of red depending on how much crimson or yellow is in their ancestry.

There are other subspecies of crimsons, P.e. nigrescens and P.e. malenoptera, nigrescens live in the north-east of queensland and are the smallest while malenoptera lives on Kangaroo Island and is the largest, both of them look like normal crimsons but are a little darker.

So anyway, Ben was right to start with, it IS a crimson, just a subspecies: a yellow rosella

Thanks for clearing that up in a simple summary, you have managed to explain in two paragraphs what most of my books took 5-6 pages to explain lol.

Back at my house we get mostly the Adelaide and Eastern variety and on the VERY odd occassion I get to see the red and blue elegans (they are so beautiful). I only ever see the yellow ones along the Murray (apparently they dwell in river red gums). I only noticed they were different birds when I started looking at my photos. To the naked eye from a distance, they just look like Adelaide's, especially when that is what you are used to seeing.

 

[Aussie Ben]

I am so freakin' jealous! I love wildlife. We went camping over this past weekend and I was all excited to see the little gray squirrels at the state park because they're different than the brown squirrels we have here at home.

I love Squirrels, they look like such funny little critters. Am i wrong in thinking that they can get pretty fired up and attack people sometimes...I mean, if you tick them off?lol

 

[wildheart]

I am so freakin' jealous! I love wildlife. We went camping over this past weekend and I was all excited to see the little gray squirrels at the state park because they're different than the brown squirrels we have here at home.

I love Squirrels, they look like such funny little critters. Am i wrong in thinking that they can get pretty fired up and attack people sometimes...I mean, if you tick them off?lol

I think you are thinking of chipmunks? The squirrels that we have are the cutest, funniest little things and wouldn't harm a fly, are yours different HRH?.

 

[HRH Di]

I am so freakin' jealous! I love wildlife. We went camping over this past weekend and I was all excited to see the little gray squirrels at the state park because they're different than the brown squirrels we have here at home.

I love Squirrels, they look like such funny little critters. Am i wrong in thinking that they can get pretty fired up and attack people sometimes...I mean, if you tick them off?lol

I think you are thinking of chipmunks? The squirrels that we have are the cutest, funniest little things and wouldn't harm a fly, are yours different HRH?.

I've never heard of an attacking squirrel - unless you stick your hand in their nest or something. It was interesting to see that in just 150 miles, we had none of the larger brown squirrels - which are very cute - to smaller gray ones; equally cute but different to us so more eye-catching. They look like they'd be so much fun with their bright eyes; quick, darting movement and bushy tail.

 

[Aussie Ben]

I love Squirrels, they look like such funny little critters. Am i wrong in thinking that they can get pretty fired up and attack people sometimes...I mean, if you tick them off?lol

I think you are thinking of chipmunks? The squirrels that we have are the cutest, funniest little things and wouldn't harm a fly, are yours different HRH?.

I've never heard of an attacking squirrel - unless you stick your hand in their nest or something. It was interesting to see that in just 150 miles, we had none of the larger brown squirrels - which are very cute - to smaller gray ones; equally cute but different to us so more eye-catching. They look like they'd be so much fun with their bright eyes; quick, darting movement and bushy tail.

LOL, maybe I'm thinking of Raccoons?

 

[wildheart]

LOL, maybe I'm thinking of Raccoons?

Nope, I think you saw the program on Animal Planet or was it Natgeowild where the squirrel / chipmunk actually did attack the people that walked past its tree. This was in America, I think the chipmunk? actually chased somebody back into the house!

 

[Aussie Ben]

LOL, maybe I'm thinking of Raccoons?

Nope, I think you saw the program on Animal Planet or was it Natgeowild where the squirrel / chipmunk actually did attack the people that walked past its tree. This was in America, I think the chipmunk? actually chased somebody back into the house!

aw, you mean not all chipmunks are sweet little guys that wonder around in brightly coloured shirts singing the popular hits of the 21st century in high squeaky voices? Some of them actually chase people? lol. Those people must have stole his acorns

 

[Quantumcat]

Back to rosellas, my grandmother had an aviary when I was a kid and kept all sorts of species in it, she got a crimson rosella at some point, then afterwards her birds started to gradually disappear and she had to keep replacing them, and she didn't figure out why until about a year later. The crimson rosella was killing them all!!! Even the ones that were the same size or bigger!

Also back to trips to Australia, go to Queensland in early spring (september/october) for nice weather but not too hot (around 20 - 22 celsius). You will get tropical rainforests and rainforest wildlife there, plus you can go snorkelling in the great barrier reef. Also you can go to Surfer's Paradise and swim at the beach in indoor-heated-pool-temperature water, lounge about on the snow-white sand, and go to some theme parks. And if you can get yourself to Dunk Island you will see millions of ulysses butterflies. It's just spectacular!

Go to Tasmania in any season: it is always temperate. There are loads of temperate rainforests to walk through, mountains to climb, caves to explore, and wildlife to see. It is the Nature Capital of Aus. I like winter (june-august) best cause I love snow. Even in the middle of winter it never gets too cold, maybe down to 8 or 9 celsius. In contrast here in Bathurst it got to -10 :-( In summer it doesn;t get too hot, maybe 25 maximum. In contrast, Bathurst = 40 :-(

Go to Western Australia in any season but summer. You will see beautiful deserts and rock formations that are hard to explain. But they are really magestic and beautiful. The wildlife would be quite different from the eastside.

Nowhere else has anything realy interesting. NSW has sydney and the snowy mountains, melbourne has lots of theatres if you like the cultural side of things, and in South Australia, all there is is Adelaide if you want to see loads of churches and die from drinking the tap water (joke ben!)

 

[Aussie Ben]

and in South Australia, all there is is Adelaide if you want to see loads of churches and die from drinking the tap water (joke ben!)

Clearly you have never been here lol. Actually its true, Adelaide is pretty much a Giant country town, but it is quiet and I like it that way. There are actually plenty of things to see and do, if you know where to look (but we tend to keep those to ourselves ), Most of SA's best kept secrets are outside the city though, in the hills and surrounding countryside. The city has loads of history (if you like that sort of stuff). Having said that, there is a reason we venture off to the other states for holidays, but it is sure nice to come back to a peaceful city where the peak hour only last 8 minutes lol.

And don't get me started on the treated drinking water that you could use to sanitise your pool hehe

 

[wildheart]

Adelaide is pretty much a Giant country town, but it is quiet and I like it that way. ..... but it is sure nice to come back to a peaceful city where the peak hour only last 8 minutes lol.

Now THAT is exactly where I will feel at home! I hate the cities, concrete jungles it feels as if it kills me! Thats why I pack my bags and kids and drive 4 1/2 hours each and every month to get away from it. Ben, it sure sounds like a fantastic area where you live.

 

[Aussie Ben]

Adelaide is pretty much a Giant country town, but it is quiet and I like it that way. ..... but it is sure nice to come back to a peaceful city where the peak hour only last 8 minutes lol.

Now THAT is exactly where I will feel at home! I hate the cities, concrete jungles it feels as if it kills me! Thats why I pack my bags and kids and drive 4 1/2 hours each and every month to get away from it. Ben, it sure sounds like a fantastic area where you live.

Yea it ain't too shabby, considering its contrast to the hustle and bustle of the South-East and East coasts of Oz. City area population still under 1.5 million. It is still a city and has loads of that awful concrete and it CAN get busy, but nice and quiet in comparison (with lots of park-lands). Thankfully, I live outside the city, so much nicer .