Bluebonnet
(Northeilla haematogaster)
Also called the Crimson-bellied parrot or Bulloak parrot.
Description: Medium sized parrot, brown to olive grey upper body and neck, blue forehead and face. Wing band blue, amount of red belly on its mostly yellow underbody varies between subspecies
Size: Males: 28-35cm, Females: 26-32cm
Voice: Harsh ‘chack chack’ piping whistle.
Feeding: seeds of a wide variety of plants, along with fruit, flowers, nectar, insects and insect larvae. Forage in pairs or small groups. Usually feed on the ground but will also feed in trees and shrubs.
Habitat: semi-arid woodland, on plains with low shrubs such as saltbush or blue bush, sometimes scattered trees or open woodland consisting of trees like Myall, Mulga and native pine.
Location: Found in dryer parts of the inland from Southern QLD through NSW and North West Victoria to south Western Australia.
Eggs: Eggs are laid in a shallow depression on decayed wood at the bottom of the hollow.
Nests: In a hole in a tree. Small trees with small hollow entrances but will nest in taller trees, stumps, fallen trees or even fence posts.
Breeding: August to December. Only a female sits on the eggs, while the male feeds her. The female does most of the feeding of the chicks initially but are feed by both once they grow.
Acknowledgements: www.Birdlife.org.au Field Guide to the Birds of Australia: Simpson and Day, A Naturalists Guide to the Birds of Australia: Dean Ingwersen National Geographic, What Bird is that?: Neville W Cayleys, www.birdsinbackyards.net, https://www.xeno-canto.org/species/Circus-assimilis