This first rosella is the one that springs to mind when I think rosella, since this is the one that was always around and admired during my life in the western part of Victoria. I vaguely remember we had one as a family pet when I was about four. But, since moving to here over twenty years ago, I doubt I’ve noticed more than a dozen.
Western Rosella (From Wikimedia)
Western Rosella (Platycercus eximius)
RIGHT: “Platycercus icterotis1”. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons –
& LEFT: From Wikimedia
Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans) Wikimedia
RIGHT: And then there is this one, which I didn’t know was a rosella until I looked it up recently for naming, here on my blog. Lots of these birds around, every day. At the moment, several pairs are found on my morning walk down by the footbridge – eating acorns.
BELOW: The other day, I saw this new-to-me bird. I knew it was an Eastern Rosella as I’ve seen photos, but nothing prepared me for actually seeing one.
Eastern Rosella – Photo taken by Ralph Green (Flickr)
The eastern rosella (Platycercus eximius) is a rosella native to southeast of the Australian continent and to Tasmania.
It has been introduced to New Zealand where feral populations are found in the North Island (notably in the northern half of the island and in the Hutt Valley) and in the hills around Dunedin in the South Island …
The eastern rosella is 30 cm (12 in) long.
My walks are conducted with even more wide-eyed enthusiasm with these new birds about. 🙂
(Apologies if these photos and captions go askew in smaller screens.)
Christine R 
They are fantastic, we love them too!
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Hello Barbara. I was really struck by all the yellow. I reckon I’ve been walking around with my eyes closed all these years!
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What a colourfully dressed fellow he is! Are the males and females similar in colour?
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The females are a little less gaudy, I imagine. I saw just the one, so couldn’t compare in real life. Apparently you can age the juveniles by their bill colour – it greys as they mature.
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Absolutely beautiful. Always think of the Rosella Sauce/Soup etc. variety. You don’t realise there are so many more differently hued birds.
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There’s quite a few, Sue. I’m looking about a bit more attentively now. I thought I already was, but maybe not hard enough. 🙂
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And of course – soup and sauce – that’s why it seemed so familiar! 😀
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Wow – 12 inches is a big bird! I thought it was a small bird like the budgie it reminds me of.
Actually, to be honest, I don’t know birds and they’re all budgies to me 😉
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LOL. It has a long tail, but yes, I was struck by it’s size, that’s for sure, as well as the vivid yellow. Thanks for dropping by Joanne. 🙂
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Australia certainly has more than its fair share of colourful birds! For the life of me though, I simply don’t know how you can keep track of one *budgie* compared to another 😉
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I was an avid birdwatcher during my teenage years, Joanne, and whenever I see a new bird I always used to grab my bird books, but now I turn to the Internet. 🙂
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No wonder you were an avid bird watcher … you have so many wonderful birds in your world!!
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