Since my move, I have of course been bird watching. Some of the birds have been the same, wattle birds, blue faced honeyeaters, magpies, blue wrens, currawongs, crows, galahs, and I dare say the ones that are missing will turn up in due course, or have been here all the time and I just haven’t seen them yet! The one that is completely new to me (apart from the odd injured one brought to me to care for) is the crimson rosella. Several times I have seen one or two sitting on the clothes line, or helping him/herself to grass seeds in the back lawn. I often hear them even when I can’t see them. They have a lovely bell like call. They like to nest in hollows high up in the trees, and I have several very tall trees around me, so I’m hoping that they’ll nest near me. Perhaps they’re even doing that right now, seeing it’s spring.
After some investigation, I found out that male and female crimson rosellas are similar except in size. The male is bigger. Both are a beautiful crimson, with blue tail feathers, and blue and black feathers on their wings, and a scalloped pattern of black on their backs. The young birds have some green on them, which they lose as they age. They are usually seen in pairs, or small family groups, but when the young are old enough to be kicked out of home, the young ones band together for a while.
They eat seeds, nectar, fruit, young shoots of plants, flowers, nuts and the odd insect. I won’t feed them, unless we go back into drought and then they’ll need some help; but they’re very welcome to any seeds in my garden, or lawn. They prefer to live in forests up in the mountains along the eastern sea board of Australia. It seems Kandos is close enough to the mountains to satisfy them, and I’m very happy about that.
When it’s breeding season, the male birds sits on a prominent branch and “displays”. He sits up tall, and ruffles his feathers and shakes his tail. He also chatters away, singing to her. The female then, if she appreciates his attentions responds in a less animated way and they then get down to the serious business of forming a permanent bond, and preparing their nest, and in due course, laying eggs and raising some chicks. The nest is lined with wood shavings and dust. The female incubates the eggs for about twenty days, then once they’re hatched, both mum and dad care for the young. Once the babies have reached about thirty five days old, they leave the nest and go on their maiden flight, but stay with their parents for another thirty five days or so, but then they are given their marching orders.
I happened to look outside a couple of days ago when I thought the rosellas were being particularly noisy, and saw a young male bird singing his little heart out, shaking his tail and ruffling his feathers. He was sitting near another bird, and I can only assume it was a female, and the object of his affection, but she seemed less than impressed, and flew away…
Mamaroo's Diary 