Blue-winged Parrot
Encyclopedia
The Blue-winged Parrot, Neophema chrysostoma, also known as the Blue-banded Parakeet or Blue-banded Grass-parakeet, is a small parrot
(20cm) found in Tasmania
and southeast Australia
.
It is mainly olive green with a blue frontal band reaching from forehead to eye, blue wing coverts, Black primaries, and a yellow belly. The top of its tail is bluish-grey, the sides and undertail are yellow.
It is sexually dimorphic
- the females are duller and have more green on the wings.
It is found in savannah woodland, grasslands, orchards, farmlands, marshes, heath, dunes, and other open habitats up to 1200m. Many migrate between Tasmania, where they breed in spring and summer, and Australia, where they winter. They often feed on the ground, eating seeds, blossoms, fruit and insects. Flock size
ranges from pairs in breeding season to up to 2,000 birds just before autumn migration.
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
(20cm) found in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
and southeast Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
It is mainly olive green with a blue frontal band reaching from forehead to eye, blue wing coverts, Black primaries, and a yellow belly. The top of its tail is bluish-grey, the sides and undertail are yellow.
It is sexually dimorphic
Sexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
- the females are duller and have more green on the wings.
It is found in savannah woodland, grasslands, orchards, farmlands, marshes, heath, dunes, and other open habitats up to 1200m. Many migrate between Tasmania, where they breed in spring and summer, and Australia, where they winter. They often feed on the ground, eating seeds, blossoms, fruit and insects. Flock size
Group size measures
Many animals, including humans, tend to live in groups, herds, flocks, bands, packs, shoals, or colonies of conspecific individuals. The size of these groups, as expressed by the number of participant individuals, is an important aspect of their social environment...
ranges from pairs in breeding season to up to 2,000 birds just before autumn migration.