Platycercus / Barnardius - Rosellas
Rosella Species ... Cages ... Toys ... Diet / Foods ... Library
Few birds in nature are as beautiful and colorful as the Rosellas. They are very popular with aviculturists because of their colors and their relative quietness.
A rosella is one of six species of colorful Australian parrots in the genus Platycercus. Platycercus means "broad-" or "flat-tailed", reflecting a feature common to the rosellas and other members of the broad-tailed parrot subfamily.
Distribution:
Rosellas are native to Australia and some nearby islands, where they inhabit forests, woodlands, farmlands, and suburban parks and gardens. They are confined to the coastal mountains and plains and are absent from the outback. Introduced populations have also established themselves in New Zealand and Norfolk Island.
Description:
Rosellas range in size from 25-38 cm (9.8-15 in). Their diet consists mainly of seeds and fruit. Because of their strikingly colorful plumage, several species are widely kept as pets. Legend has it that early settlers first encountered the Eastern Rosella at Rose Hill, now a Sydney suburb. They called it a "Rose Hiller", which eventually became "rosella". There is also a second story that the name is derived from 'Rosetta', the first name of the wife of George Fife Angas, a settler in Australia, but he forgot to cross his T's (leaving them appearing as lowercase L's), hence "rosella". (Adapted from Source: Wikipedia.org) .
Diet
Rosellas are customarily fed seeds, fruits, vegetables, eggfood, greens, mealworms, nuts, dog chow, bread, and minerals.
Breeding:
Rosellas are easy to breed; they are robust, do not fear cold but need a dry shelter. The breeding season usually starts in March or April (in Australia from September through January). During the incubation period she is fed by her mate. They nest in a wooden nest, high above the ground, filled with chips or turf.
The female lays 5 to 6 eggs that she incubates alone for about 21 days. During the incubation period she is fed by her mate.
It is recommended that couples are kept alone in an aviary, and to even avoid keeping two couples in twocontiguous aviaries - as they may be aggressive
Taxonomy:
Class: Aves ... Order: Psittaciformes ... Family: Psittacidae ... Subfamily: Psittacinae ... Genus: Scientific: Platycercus ... English: Rosellas ... Dutch: Platstaartparkieten ... German: Plattschweifsittiche ... French: Rosellas ... CITES II: Endangered Species
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