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Princess Parrot
(Polytelis alexandrae)
: "Queen Alexandra's Parakeet", "Alexandra Parrot", "Alexandrine
Parrot", "Princess of Wales' Parakeet"
 Aboriginal name(s): "inilturung"
Size: 35-45 cm
Weight: 90-120 g
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Physical description |
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 Click here for a physical description
Princess Parrots are medium-sized parrots with a very long tail.
Their plumage is
dimorphic, i.e.
males and
females
are different.
Male
Princess Parrots have a pink throat and upper chest,
greyish-pink lower breast and belly and blueish-grey vent.
The rest of the head is blueish-grey, with a smooth transition into
the olive-green feathers of the mantle and upperwings.
The upperwings have prominent greenish-yellow patches and
dark blue-grey flight feathers. The tail is pale-green.
Female
Princess Parrots have the same colour pattern, but
their colours are a bit duller. They lack the blueish hues
of male birds.
The bills of both sexes are pink, the irises are dark and the legs
and feet are dark-grey.
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Taxonomy, classification |
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See Princess
Parrot at Wikipedia  .
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Range, habitat, finding this species |
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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
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The global distribution of the Princess Parrot is available
HERE
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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.
Princess Parrots are endemic to Australia. They are vagrant and
live in pairs or small groups and little is known about their
movements or breeding sites. They live exclusively in the semi-arid
to arid interior of the Australian continent. Their range extends
approximately from Kalgoorlie, WA, to Lake Eyre, SA, in the South
and a line from Lake Eyre to Alice Springs, NT, extending some 500 km
farther North than Alice Springs defining the eastern boundary of
their range. On the western side their range is limited by a line
connecting Kalgoorlie, WA, with the spring of the Yule and Shaw
Rivers, inland of Port Hedland, WA.
The northern edge of their range lies somewhere in the area of
-20 to -18 degrees southern latitude.
Princess Parrots live in the driest parts of the Australian
continent, i.e. desert
country. They have a preference for arid shrub dominated by
desert oak and mulga.
They feed in triodia ("spinifex")
grassland
and are also found in trees lining inland (usually dry) creekbeds.
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Sightings |
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Click here for sighting information
We have not seen a Princess Parrot in its natural habitat yet.
The photos shown below are of a probable escapee found by B. Hensen
in Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, in January 2019.
All sighting and photographic information presented on this page
has been kindly contributed by B. Hensen.
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Photos |
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ADULT |
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MALE |
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Close-up frontal view of a male Princess Parrot
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, January 2019]
Frontal view of a male Princess Parrot
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, January 2019]
Lateral view of a male Princess Parrot
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, January 2019]
Near-dorsal view of a male Princess Parrot showing the dark-blue rump
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, January 2019]
Male Princess Parrot launching itself into the air
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, January 2019]
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Food, Diet |
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Near-lateral view of a male Princess Parrot feeding on grass seeds
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, January 2019]
Lateral view of a male Princess Parrot feeding on grass seeds
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
[Centennial Park, Sydney, NSW, January 2019]
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.
Breeding
Nest
Eggs
Behaviour
Call/s
