King Parrot.

The Australian king parrot is a brightly coloured, visibly pleasing bird that can be found through a large portion of Australia most of the way down the east coast. They inhabit mostly rainforest and eucalypt forest but can also be found along the ranges of the mountains.

King parrots eat a steady diet of fruit and seeds, with a preference for larger ones. You can often see them sitting in trees and dropping shells or husks from the various seeds. We put out a variety of fruit for the parrots that visit here including apple, berries, banana and stonefruits. They often compete with the Bower birds for the food we put out and will push and shove for prime spot. Both birds live in pairs or families so you can often find large groups of them sitting on the fence, waiting their turn.

The king parrot isn't often seen flying high and prefers to stay close to the ground and tree cover. They are a fairly skittish bird and you have to be quiet and slow if you want to get close, with feeding some birds become more friendly but feeding too often can leave them to rely on us.
In captivity these birds can live for up to 25 years but individuals in the wild are unlikely to survive this long.

The biggest threats to the King parrot are introduced pests like the fox, domestic cats and dogs. Birds are also a common roadkill and king parrots eating seeds that have fallen on the road often fall victim to cars.
They have adapted fairly well to living around humans though you wont find them in built-up areas. So long as there is a good supply of food and water they generally stick around and most people enjoy having them in their garden. They range in colour but as they grow their colours change to what they will end up as.

I like all the birds that come to visit us but the parrots are always something else with their gorgeous colours and funny noises. Hope you enjoy.

All pictures used are taken by my partner Lydia