Elegant Parrot

Neophema elegans

Content

21 to 24 cm.. length between 40 and 51 g. of weight.

The Elegant Parrot (Neophema elegans) is very similar to the Blue-winged Parrot (Neophema chrysostoma), but its plumage It is brighter and more yellowish especially in the chest.

The crown is olive-green with a front band in dark blue tone and a distinctive and fine light blue on the rear margin. Lords bright yellow; the face Yellow olive.

The the mantle and back are olive green, staining in yellow tones in the area of the rump. The bend of wing they are blue. The wing-coverts more internal are olive green, the median pale blue tips, the large coverts with edge them in blue malva; the primary coverts in blackish shades with margins of violet-blue. The primaries black, with edges in blue violet dark; the secondaries greenish-yellow colour with external margins of blue color in the outermost zone.

The wing feathers blue-violet color. Throat and chest of yellowish-green, becoming bright yellow in the belly and in the undertail- coverts, sometimes with orange patches among the legs. Upper, the tail greyish blue, darker towards tip, Yellow lateral feathers with darker bases.

The bill black; irises dark brown; legs grey.

The plumage of the female is olive green opaque.

Immature females they are similar, except the line forecrown It is barely visible.

The adult plumage WINS in three or four months.

• Sound of the Elegant Parrot.

The Elegant Parrot It is a nocturnal migratory bird. It is the least specialized of its kind. It attends the nearshore or coastal dunes, wooded grasslands and Shrublands, areas of Mallee that have the appearance of large shrubs and plots of eucalyptus.

You can also see in the shrubs of Acacia, in areas of low altitude provided Acacias (Acacia caesiella) or fitted with bushes of the salt Plains Saltbush Atriplex. They especially appreciate the groups of trees that are cleared up areas.

outside the breeding season, the Elegant Parrot they form large flocks, often in association with the Blue-winged Parrot, in the Southeast. They gather in grasslands and brushy areas to feed on native or imported seeds or grasses..

These parakeets are partially nomadic, above the outer limits of its range. Local low-intensity movements can also occur. These birds nest in Kangaroo Island, from November to April. after this last month, they move to the Mainland to form their winter quarters.

The Elegant Parrot They nest from August to November. Usually install their nest in a cavity in a tree at high altitude. They often use the highest branches of isolated trees. Spawning is composed of 4 or 5 eggs incubation lasts a few 18 days. The chicks are altricial and they leave the nest after one month.

The Elegant Parrot they are almost exclusively vegetarian. Their menu consists of clover or sunflower seeds and other plants of the type Helianthus, Trifolium and paspalum. Also appreciate the Berberis (Jeffersonia diphylla) and barberry (Berberis vulgaris).

There is a two morphologically identical populations but well separated, although the species is nomadic so the birds can appear outside the normal range sometimes.

In the Southwest the species occurs west of a line from the environs of Esperance on the southern coast of the North of Western Australia through Merredin until Moora on the Northwest Coast.

They have spread through the wheat belt of the drier areas of the northeast and are now in the vicinity of Perth, as well as sometimes north of Point Cloates and the fortescue river.

In the Southeast are distributed in the South of Southern Australia, on eyre peninsula, on Kangaroo Island (present in summer), and in the districts of South, about Port Augusta, Port Wakefield and about adelaide, in the Lofty Mountains, reaching northward in the northern most part of the Montes Flinders.

The species is irregular East of 140 ° E, with few records from New South Wales, North of Riverina to paroo river; is also irregular in the Northwest of Victoria.

The population of the Southwest It is growing, While in the Southeast believed to be stable although the species is generally less common and its historical range is not easy to determine due to possible confusion with the Blue-winged Parrot.

The world population is estimated over of 30.000 individuals.

• Current category of the Red List of the UICN: Least concern

• Population Trend: Growing

According to the Manual of the birds of the world (HBW), This species is not threatened globally. It is common, especially in the southwest of Australia.

Until the Decade of 1930, It grew, After the use of clover in pastures.

The size of the world's population has not been quantified, but the species, according to sources, it is common. (pit et to the. 1997). It is estimated that it may be around the 30,000 specimens.

The Elegant Parrot they belong to a species that are obtained very good results in reproduction. They are also suitable for fans of parrots.

They are peaceful birds that do very low noise. They are a little shy, but they become confident with time. They are easy to maintain but they have the need to crack, a little bigger, than other species of neophemas, without the destruction of your Aviary. Your bathroom need depends on the individual. Son heat-resistant, but they are very sensitive to cold and wet fog.

To the Elegant Parrot He loves to dig the ground and is therefore susceptible to infection by worms. They are also sensitive to eye infections.

– Elegant Parrot, Elegant Grass-Parakeet, Grass Parakeet, Grass Parrot, Yellow Lowry (ingles).
– Perruche élégante (French).
– Schmucksittich (German).
– Periquito-elegante (Portuguese).
– Papagayo Elegante, Periquito Elegante (español).

– Order: Psittaciformes
– Family: Psittaculidae
– Genus: Neophema
– Scientific name: Neophema elegans
– Citation: (Gould, 1837)
– Protonimo: Nanodes elegans

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“Elegant Parrot” (Neophema elegans)

Sources:

– Sounds: Mark Harper (Xeno-canto)