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 John Gerrard Keulemans – Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. Volume 20

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)

Wow. That’s what I thought, too! I was gobsmacked. What an awesome bird, and it looked especially colourful in the misty rain.

I want to take photos like these, so I better start saving up for a proper camera.

Wikipedia says…

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.)