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Bourke's Parrot (Neopsephotus bourkii) Alternate name(s): "Bourke's Grass-parrot", "Pink-bellied Parrot", "Sundown Parrot"; MISNOMER: "Night Parrot*" Size: 18-23 cm; wing span: ca. 30 cm Body mass: 38-51 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.20-0.28

Australia: Family Group 12 Family Group 12 Table Palm Cockatoo Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo Glossy Black-Cockatoo Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Short-billed Black-Cockatoo Long-billed Black-Cockatoo Gang-gang Cockatoo Long-billed Corella Western Corella Little Corella Cockatiel Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Pink Cockatoo Galah Rainbow Lorikeet Red-collared Lorikeet Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Purple-crowned Lorikeet Varied Lorikeet Musk Lorikeet Little Lorikeet Eclectus Parrot Red-cheeked Parrot Double-eyed Fig-Parrot Australian King-Parrot Red-winged Parrot Princess Parrot Superb Parrot Regent Parrot Green Rosella Crimson Rosella Western Rosella Eastern Rosella Pale-headed Rosella Northern Rosella Red-capped Parrot Australian Ringneck Red-rumped Parrot Mulga Parrot Golden-shouldered Parrot Hooded Parrot Blue Bonnet Bourke's Parrot Budgerigar Swift Parrot Eastern Ground Parrot Night Parrot Blue-winged Parrot Scarlet-chested Parrot Rock Parrot Turquoise Parrot Elegant Parrot Family group table Index of bird names Habitat pages Key plants Thumbnails page Birds home page

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description Bourke's Parrots are small parrots. Their plumage is dimorphic, i.e. males and females are different. Male Bourke's Parrots have a pinkish-brown head and chest, a pink belly and a blue vent and undertail coverts. The upperwings are black with yellowish-white lining, the uppertail is grey while the undertail is whitish. The flight feathers are dark-blue. Males have a dark-grey cere and a dark-grey bill. Female Bourke's Parrots have lighter colours overall, with a pinkish-grey head, pink front (chest, belly and vent), pink upperwing coverts. The flight feathers are blue. Females have a yellowish cere and a light-grey bill. Males have a darker grey bill than female Bourke's Parrots. Both sexes have some light-grey feathers around the eyes and the base of bill. The irises of both sexes are dark; the legs and feet are grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Bourke's Parrot at Wikipedia .

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of Bourke's Parrot is available HERE . NB: Reports on ebird of birds submitted by birdwatchers from the Australian Outback tend to be clustered along roads and public areas such as camp grounds; in such cases their distribution is not a good representation of the overall distribution of the species. Bourke's Parrots are endemic to Australia. They are found basically in three patches, in the interior of the Australian continent. One is in the north-west of WA, but off the coast, from about the geographic latitude of Geraldton to Exmouth. The second patch is along the NT/SA border, as wide as the NT in east-west direction. It includes Lake Eyre as its southernmost part. The third patch the catchment of the Paroo River and of the upper Darling River, from the SA border with QLD and NSW to the east, a near-circular area with a diameter of a few hundred km with its centre near Wanaaring, NSW, with Broken Hill, NSW, on its south-western boundary. Bourke's Parrots are usually found in mulga- and gidgee-dominated dry scrub in semi-arid to arid habitats, where they can be seen feeding on grass seeds.

Sightings Click here for sighting information A pair of Bourke's Parrots was first spotted by us about at Sturt NP, 20 km North-East of Tibooburra, NSW, in September 2012. M. Eaton reports spotting a flock of Bourke's Parrots at Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, in August 2018. M. Eaton and ourselves found Bourke's Parrots at Lake Bindegolly NP, near Thargomindah, QLD, in June 2019. They were found again at the same location by M. Eaton in June 2020. In August 2025, M. Eaton found a pair of Bourke's Parrots by the sides of the Diamantina Developmental Road, 100 km W of Windorah, QLD.

Photos

ADULT

PAIR

Many bird species exhibit sexual dimorphism, i.e., male and female have differing appearances which can be quite subtle.
The male's cere, on the left, is dark-grey; the female's is pinkish-grey. Note also the male's blue bar above the eyes and it's overall higher colour contrast compared to the female.

Lateral/dorsal view of a pair of Bourke's Parrots, male in front (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

MALE

Near-frontal view of a male Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Bindegolly NP, near Thargomindah, QLD, June 2019]

Near-frontal view of a male Bourke's Parrot; note the pink underparts and the blue on the forehead (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Near-lateral view of a male Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Lateral view of a male Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Bindegolly NP, near Thargomindah, QLD, June 2020]

Near-dorsal view of a male Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Bindegolly NP, near Thargomindah, QLD, June 2019]

Near-dorsal view of a male Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Lake Bindegolly NP, near Thargomindah, QLD, June 2019]

Distant near-dorsal view of a male Bourke's Parrot
[Currawinya NP, near HUngerford, QLD, June 2019]

Lateral view of a male Bourke's Parrot in flight
[Currawinya NP, near HUngerford, QLD, June 2019]

FEMALE

Full-frontal view of a female Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Near-frontal view of a female Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Near-frontal view of a female Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Lateral view of a female Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Lateral view of an female Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Lateral view of a female Bourke's Parrot; note the dull colours and the pale bill (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Lateral view of a female Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Near-dorsal view of an female Bourke's Parrot (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, near Cunnamulla, QLD, August 2018]

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial?

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Pair/small mob

Call(s)/Song

For this species we have recorded the following call(s)/song. The interpretation of their meaning is our own; comments and suggestions for improvement are welcome.

bourke_20190620_3.m4a	(SW QLD)	Contact call (male)	© MD
bourke_20190620.m4a	(SW QLD)	Contact calls (male)	© MD
bourke_20190620_2.m4a	(SW QLD)	Warning/departure (male)	© MD
bourke_20190619.m4a	(SW QLD)	Warning calls? (male in-flight)	© MD

More Bourke's Parrot sound recordings are available at xeno-canto.org .

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

Would you like to contribute photos or sound recordings to this site? If interested, please CLICK HERE. Credits to contributors are given HERE.