Australian King Parrot

Male Australian King Parrot - Alisterus scapularis

The male Australian King Parrot is the only parrot with a completely red heard. During mating season their habitat is limited to heavier coastal and mountain forests on the south east coast of Australia. Once they have nested, king parrots will frequent farms, parks and even gardens in the area.

More photographs inside.

 Female Australian King Parrot - Alisterus scapularis

Although these Parrots frequent parks and gardens, including ours, I hadn't got around to photographing them. While we were at the Barrington tops I noticed a number of them around and took the opportunity to capture these images. It wasn't too easy to get close to them but fortunately I had the 100-400mm lens with me.

Male Australian King Parrot - Alisterus scapularis

The male and the female are easily identifiable as the female has a green head and the male's head is completely red in colour. The eye of the adult birds is yellow while juveniles have brown eyes. The birds are generally found in pairs or small flocks. I noticed that the birds which frequent camp sites are a lot easier to approach as they are used to people feeding them. 

Male Australian King Parrot - Alisterus scapularis

All these photographs were captured with the Canon 7D and the 100-400mm combination. I loved the bokeh on the first image and, as a result, decided to use it as the lead image for this post. 

Male Australian King Parrot - Alisterus scapularis

Rose Ringed Parakeet

A Rose ringed Parakeet photographed in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Of all the parakeets found in Sri Lanka, the Rose ringed Parakeet is by far the most common in the lowlands. A flock of about ten birds visit our garden twice a day to feed on the fruit trees and whatever is left out on the bird tray. More images and info after the jump.

A Rose ringed Parakeet photographed in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Interestingly, this bird is one of the few birds that are not protected. They are actually considered to be an agricultural pest (more info on this here). They have been able to establish feral populations in a number of European cities as well as South Africa and India. Most of these populations have been established by introduced birds as well as escaped pets. Unfortunately these birds are still popular as pets in Sri Lanka.

A Rose ringed Parakeet photographed in Colombo, Sri Lanka

All the images in this post were captured with a Canon 7D and the 100-400mm lens. I didn't have to zoom in to 400mm to capture these images as the birds let me get quite close to them.

A Rose ringed Parakeet photographed in Colombo, Sri Lanka

More info and images of this bird at

• http://devwijewardane.blogspot.com/2009/10/rose-ringed-parakeet.html

Red-rumped Parrot

The Red-rumped Parrot is a medium sized slender parrot found in the south-east of Australia. More images and info inside.

The adult male, shown above, is bright green with a blue green head, a red rump and yellow shoulders and belly. The female is a duller olive green with a green rump and faint yellow or light green scales on the belly. Young birds of both sexes are duller in colour. It is similar to the Mulga Parrot.

 

The Red-rumped Parrot is found in open grassland or lightly timbered plains, as well as along watercourses and in mallee farmlands with access to water. These Parrots feed in pairs or small flocks on the ground preferring to feed on seeds and leaves of grasses. They will also feed on fruits and flowers in trees. They can be seen feeding with other Parrots, including Eastern Rosellas and Galahs.

These birds mate for life. The female chooses and prepares the nesting site, usually a hollow in a eucalypt tree or, as shown above, in hollows found in wooden beams of buildings. Eggs are laid on a decayed wood bed and the female incubates the eggs while the male regularly feeds her. The young can be fed for a while after they fledge.
Source- http://birdsinbackyards.net/bird/104

The images in this post were taken at one of our friends farms in the Northern Hunter region of New South Wales. The birds are not easy to approach and I had to use a car as a hide to capture the images above. I was pretty lucky with the light as it was an overcast day. The female was perched in the shade under a roof and, as a result, the highlights in the background were blown.

Rose-ringed Parakeet

This is the most common Parakeet in the low-lands of Sri Lanka. It is one of the few birds which is not protected as it is considered an agricultural pest. More info and techs inside.

To see the techs for this shot, click here.

The Rose-ringed parakeet regularly visits gardens in urban areas, including gardens in the heart of Colombo, feeding on fruits and seeds. They feed and move around in small flocks which are often heard screeching in flight. They nest in tree burrows and compete for nest sites with Barbets. Only the males have a rose collar and their faces have a powder blue tinge.

A bird feeder which is regularly filled or some fruit trees and a little bit of luck is all that is required to attract the birds to your garden.. The Parakeets do not take flight as easily as some other birds and they can be photographed with ease using a 300mm lens. The image above was taken at 400mm but I am confident that, if required, I would have been able to move a lot closer.

Red-Rumped Parrot