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