Eastern Rosella or Platycercus Eximius
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| Eastern Rosella |
The
Eastern Rosella is about 30 cm long. They have long feathers and have bright and variable colours, including bright green, red, blue, white and yellow. They have small feather tails and short, sharp curved beaks. The
Eastern Rosella has strange feet. While most birds have three toes facing forward and one facing back, they have two toes facing forwards and two facing backwards.
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| Eastern Rosella |
The
Eastern Rosella is a familiar sight in eastern parts of Australia. They are usually in pairs or family groups, though larger flocks may congregate during winter. It frequents woodlands and grassland and is often seen in suburbs. The birds live all their lives on land or around inland waterways.
Eastern Rosellas search for seeds and fruit on the ground and in trees in the early morning at late afternoon. They crack seeds or tear fruit open with their sharp beak and hold their food in one foot and lift it to their beak to eat.
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| Eastern Rosella |
Eastern Rosellas Breeding Eastern Rosellas make nests from a bed of wood dust in gum tree hollows. Females lay four to eight round white eggs. The female sits on the eggs for 19 to 21 days. When the eggs hatch the chicks have a soft down covering their body. The female feeds the chicks at first, but when they are two weeks old both parents feed them. The chicks have feathers and are ready to fly in five to six weeks.
