The Australian King Parrot - An Overview

Australian King Parrots are common and widespread throughout the fringed eastern regions of the Australian continent. These birds prefer a habitat that is heavily forested ranging from Cooktown in Quennsland to Port Campbell in Victoria. They can be found in the higher elevated regions of the continent, in places where eucalyptus trees thrive very well, near the subtropical areas and temperate rain forests. It is not surprising to find some of them in the northern regions of Tasmania, a well known island southeast from the Australian continent.

The bird抯 scientific name is Alisterus Scapularis. Their name was first coined by Martin Heinrich Carl Lichtenstein; a German physician, explorer and zoologist who is accredited for the creation and foundation of Berlin抯 Zoological Gardens in 1841. This bird is among the important species in his list of accounted animals.

The Australian King Parrots are easily distinguishable with their red and green combination of colors. Male Australian Kings have red heads. Females, on the other hand, have green heads and breast. But both sexes have red painted bellies and green backs with the latter color trailing all the way down their tails and also towards their pair of wings. Their beaks are usually orange in color, with the upper beak having richer and darker tone than the lower one. If there is such a thing as 揵eak stick? an avian version for the human lipstick, then it is permanently colored black in each upper and lower mandible. These adult parrots of both sexes have a height ranging around 43 centimeters high, already including the long broad tail. Both juvenile and female Australian Kings have brown irises while adult males have yellow ones.

Seemingly, these birds have a natural sense of strong family values, because they are usually found gliding either in pairs or in bigger kin groups. Being natural forest dwellers, they forage in trees for seeds and fruit just like any other parrot living in the wild. When domesticated, it is proven that these birds have very limited 揾uman speech?capabilities and they do not prefer to be handled extensively by their owners. However, their natural sense of independence does not limit their natural rapport with their human companions. Thus, these birds are known to be devoted to their masters. The approximate range of their lifespan is unknown. But according to common knowledge, they live for around merely 25 years of age. These birds are virtually unknown outside Australia.