Saturday 6 August 2011

Rosellas growing up

I love the Crimson Rosellas Platycercus elegans, they are cheeky, colourful parrots who make the sweetest little chirps, like a squeeky toy.  There are always plenty in the gardens.  At the moment Ive noticed a number of young ones who are making the transition to adulthood, so their feathers are changing from green to red. According to Birds in Backyards, "Young Crimson Rosellas have the characteristic blue cheeks, but the remainder of the body plumage is green-olive to yellowish olive (occasionally red in some areas). The young bird gradually attains the adult plumage over a period of 15 months."  I got some nice shots of a young one in this 'puberty' stage, as well as a beautiful fully fledged adult male.


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