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Northern Rosella (Platycercus venustus) Alternate name(s): "Smutty Parrot", "Brown's Parrot", "Brown's Parakeet" Size: 29-32 cm; wing span: ca. 44 cm Body mass: 77-110 g Wing loading [g/cm2]: 0.30-0.42

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

Similar species

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

Physical description Click here for a physical description Northern Rosellas are medium-sized parrots. Except for white cheeks, Northern Rosellas have all-black heads. There is a blue band under the cheeks, leading to a yellow front with light grey scalloping (chest, belly). The vent is red. The back, from the nape of the neck to the rump, including the upperwing coverts, is black-and-yellow scalloped. The flight feathers are deep-blue. The uppertail is turquoise-green, with blue outer wing feathers. The only visible difference between the sexes is that males have a jet-black cap, while that of females is the colour of charcoal. The irises of both sexes are dark, the bill is light-grey, while the legs and feet are grey.

Taxonomy, classification See Northern Rosella 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 the Northern Rosella is available HERE . There are two races of Northern Rosellas, both of which are endemic to the tropical North of Australia. Together, they populate an area from about Derby, WA, through the Kimberley, WA, the Top End of the NT, and a narrow strip along the South coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria, to about the longitude of Mt. Isa, QLD. Eastward of the Victoria River in the NT nominate race "venustus" is found, farther West race "hilli". Northern Rosellas are found in woodland (including sclerophyll, i.e. eucalypt woodland), scrub, savannah-type grassland and gardens, also on some tropical off-shore islands.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "venustus" B. Hensen reports spotting a pair of Northern Rosellas, race "venustus", at Darwin River Dam, NT, in August 2012. We first spotted a pair of Northern Rosellas, race "venustus", at Lake Copperfield, near Pine Creek, NT, in August 2014. J. Greaves reports spotting Northern Rosellas, race "venustus", at Yellow Water, Kakadu NP, NT, in November 2014. H. Mouritsen reports spotting Northern Rosellas, race "venustus", in the area of Pine Creek, NT, in October 2015. P. Brown reports finding Northern Rosellas, race "venustus", in Charles Darwin NP, Darwin, NT, in February 2018, and in Pine Creek, NT, in November 2018. B. Hensen spotted a pair of Northern Rosellas, race "venustus", on the Marrakai track, NT, in July 2018, where they were also found by P. Brown in August 2018. M. Eaton found Northern Rosellas, race "venustus", in Katherine, NT, in July 2020.

Photos

Race "venustus"

ADULT

PAIR

Many bird species exhibit sexual dimorphism, i.e., male and female have differing appearances which can be quite subtle.
In Northern Rosellas the male, left, has a jet-black cap, while the female's is more greyish-black and can have yellowish scalloping. In general, in a pair the female will show less colour contrast and more scalloping than the male.

Ventral view of a pair of Northern Rosellas (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Darwin River Dam, NT, August 2012]

MALE

Lateral view of a male Northern Rosella; note the jet-black cap (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Charles Darwin NP, Darwin, NT, February 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a male Northern Rosella (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Charles Darwin NP, Darwin, NT, February 2018]

Near-dorsal view of a male Northern Rosella (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Near-dorsal/ventral view of a male Northern Rosella (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Dorsal view of a male Northern Rosella (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Dorsal view of a male Northern Rosella (photo courtesy of C. Nugent)

FEMALE

Frontal view of a female(?) Northern Rosella looking sideways (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Frontal/ventral view of a female(?) Northern Rosella (photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Marrakai track, NT, July 2018]

Near-lateral view of a female(?) Northern Rosella (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a female(?) Northern Rosella (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

Lateral view of a female Northern Rosella (photo courtesy of C. Nugent)

Behaviour

Social behaviour: Territorial

Mobility: Sedentary/dispersive

Elementary unit: Pair/family

Food, Diet

Northern Rosella feeding on a fruit (photo courtesy of M. Eaton)
[Katherine, NT, July 2020]

3 out of 12 Northern Rosellas approaching a waterhole for a drink (photo courtesy of P. Brown)
[Umbrawarra Gorge NP, NT, September 2021]

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.

nortros_20140818.m4a	venustus (Top End, NT)	Warning/departure	© MD
nortros_pb_20210924.m4a	venustus (Top End, NT)	Various	© PB

More Northern Rosella 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.

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