Australia is fortunate to have a very large number of different families of Parrots. In this episode, we will cover a small group of members known as the Long-tailed Parrots. There are only five members in this group
Well known in our region is the Australian King Parrot which inhabits coastal areas from Cape York Peninsula in the North, down the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range, and into Victoria. It does prefer the bush in the mountains but will also come down to where there are fruit trees, orchards and different crops which they prefer.
The body of this male is a beautiful bright red on the body, dark green with a light green stripe on its wings. The female is generally green with some red colouring underneath.
Widespread across the north of the continent and in Queensland, the member of this group most seen in our area is the Red-winged Parrot. As covered in a previous column, it is the male that has the bright red colouring on its wings. It could even be classed as the most beautiful of all the Parrots.
The Parrot in our illustration here, is another beautiful bird known as the Princess Parrot. It is also known as the Alexandra Parrot, having been named after Princess Alexandra. Unfortunately, it does not inhabit areas on the eastern side of the continent being found in Central Australia in parts covering the south of the Northern Territory, and the middle inland parts of Western Australia.
The other two members of this family are the Regent Parrot of South-west Western Australia and the Superb Parrot of central western New South Wales.
