I agree with sparrow. The Rock Parrot is identified by its deep blue frontal band, brown/green upper body & duller yellow (than Elegant or Blue-winged Parrots) underbody. The Blue-winged Parrot sometimes has a pale orange patch on its belly whereas the Elegant Parrot, in my experience & from what I've read so far, never has an orange patch, pale or otherwise, on its belly.
By the way, Rick, where did you encounter these beauties?
No, not an Orange-bellied Parrot which has green-yellow underparts down to the belly & is more rotund than the Blue-winged Parrot (& the Elegant Parrot for that matter).
Sparrow, I try to get out to remote areas as much as possible and walk a lot. Most days in the Mallee that means at least 10 KMs :-)
Most remote conservation parks I find have a wide variety of birdlife but takes some walking.
Woko, Have been waiting for a job to start on Eyre Peninsula so have had a few spare days. Spent a couple of days at Lake Gilles and have been at Arno Bay for two days. The Parrots and Chats are from the Arno Bay Mangrove Trail which is a real wonder. Have seen Wood Swallows, Honeyeaters,WB Babblers, Pied Oyster catchers,Sacred Kingfishers, Black winged Stilts plus many others. One more walk in the morning then work calls unfortunately. Cheers
What a simply fantastic way to educate yourself with bird species by getting out there and living your life in the lovely natural surroundings of nature itself. I hope you are taking more photos of other nature's gifts e.g. bugs, butterflies, reptiles, snakes, flowers etc. Would really look forward to seeing them too. Hope you have also started listing all these birds you have managed to capture for reference , looks like your list would be getting rather large now with such a variety . Great work Rick , keep sharing.
Lovely, lovely photographs, Rick. Thanks for sharing them. I agree with others - first is Rock, second BW. Never seen a Rock Parrot; seen BWs twice and fleetingly.
Shoop, have snakes,spiders,ants,wasps,butterflies etc but being a bird forum.....
Peter, pretty much anything I get comes up here but the only problem at the moment is having been so active lately I'm way behind in editing etc. Need some long cold winter nights to catch up.
My last morning this morning before work calls for a while but managed to see a couple more parrots plus some others that I will post sereately. The bush that they were feeding on is completely submerged at high tide. They really are a very secretive and aware bird and I couldn't get close.
Many years ago I had the incredible experience of seeing Orange-bellied, Blue-winged, Elegant & Rock Parrots all in the one location. It was a sunflower crop which the landowner had grown to provide food for Orange-bellied Parrots. Sometimes we have these never-to-be-forgotten bird watching experiences. This was one surely one of mine.
Just realized that as mentioned below, are Rock and Blue-winged Parrots.
Curtis
I think the first one is a rock parrot and the second one is a Blue Winged Parrot both are types Neophema parrot.
(seriously I'm going to have to start following you around you get so many great photos of hard to find birds)
In elegant parrots the blue band is over the eye but the orange patch on the lower abdomen is the give away ,Blue winged
I agree with sparrow. The Rock Parrot is identified by its deep blue frontal band, brown/green upper body & duller yellow (than Elegant or Blue-winged Parrots) underbody. The Blue-winged Parrot sometimes has a pale orange patch on its belly whereas the Elegant Parrot, in my experience & from what I've read so far, never has an orange patch, pale or otherwise, on its belly.
By the way, Rick, where did you encounter these beauties?
So second definately not Orange Bellied? I don't know much about the different parrots, saw an orange patch and went Hmmmm.
In my opinion (although I may be wrong) the second bird is a Blue-winged, not an Elegant or Orange-bellied.
Curtis
No, not an Orange-bellied Parrot which has green-yellow underparts down to the belly & is more rotund than the Blue-winged Parrot (& the Elegant Parrot for that matter).
Thanks all for your help.
Sparrow, I try to get out to remote areas as much as possible and walk a lot. Most days in the Mallee that means at least 10 KMs :-)
Most remote conservation parks I find have a wide variety of birdlife but takes some walking.
Woko, Have been waiting for a job to start on Eyre Peninsula so have had a few spare days. Spent a couple of days at Lake Gilles and have been at Arno Bay for two days. The Parrots and Chats are from the Arno Bay Mangrove Trail which is a real wonder. Have seen Wood Swallows, Honeyeaters,WB Babblers, Pied Oyster catchers,Sacred Kingfishers, Black winged Stilts plus many others. One more walk in the morning then work calls unfortunately. Cheers
What a simply fantastic way to educate yourself with bird species by getting out there and living your life in the lovely natural surroundings of nature itself. I hope you are taking more photos of other nature's gifts e.g. bugs, butterflies, reptiles, snakes, flowers etc. Would really look forward to seeing them too. Hope you have also started listing all these birds you have managed to capture for reference , looks like your list would be getting rather large now with such a variety . Great work Rick , keep sharing.
Kerry - Perth, Western Australia.
Lovely, lovely photographs, Rick. Thanks for sharing them. I agree with others - first is Rock, second BW. Never seen a Rock Parrot; seen BWs twice and fleetingly.
Lorne
Rick
great pics, i have Blue-winged Parrot on my list but not Rock Parrot
I have been watching your IDs posts with great interest and wandering what you have been getting that you haven't been telling us about!
happy birding
Peter
Thanks all for your comments,
Shoop, have snakes,spiders,ants,wasps,butterflies etc but being a bird forum.....
Peter, pretty much anything I get comes up here but the only problem at the moment is having been so active lately I'm way behind in editing etc. Need some long cold winter nights to catch up.
My last morning this morning before work calls for a while but managed to see a couple more parrots plus some others that I will post sereately. The bush that they were feeding on is completely submerged at high tide. They really are a very secretive and aware bird and I couldn't get close.
All the very best with your new job, Rick.
Many years ago I had the incredible experience of seeing Orange-bellied, Blue-winged, Elegant & Rock Parrots all in the one location. It was a sunflower crop which the landowner had grown to provide food for Orange-bellied Parrots. Sometimes we have these never-to-be-forgotten bird watching experiences. This was one surely one of mine.
Deeply envious, Woko. Well done! Lorne