Hi, Took these photos of a single bird, on path leading to bird-hide at Pt Cook Coastal Park, Nov 2012. http://www.pbase.com/murraym/inbox Unsure whether this is an Elegant or Blue-winged parrot. Any help would be appreciated. thanks, Mike Murray ===============================
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Many thanks to everyone who responded. I will mark it down as a blue-winged parrot. best wishes, Mike
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G’day Mike et al.
I agree with Greg and Paul, a Blue-wing in yellow late light for the same reasons and add that the tail isn’t really long enough for an Elegant although this is not as easy a feature to judge as the others already mentioned. The photo on the log shows the facial features more discretely, being not quite so generally blown out yellow as the other photo it shows the more extensive yellow face and especially the yellow continuing behind the eye. These birds are always more tricky on the ground because the flank feathers can cover so much of the bend in the wing.
Cheers Jeff.
Mike and all
But while there is not much blue showing on the wings the narrow blue band on the forehead clearly stops at the eye and a yellow line goes over and past the eye, as in a Blue-winged Parrot?
Greg Little
Interesting, Mike. When I saw the smallish amount of visible blue on the wing, I thought the same – but the yellow facial mask appeared more indicative of Blue-winged Parrot. If it was an Elegant Parrot at Point Cook Coastal Park then that would be almost unprecedented. I can find only one record in the (old) atlas of Elegant Parrot in the Geelong region, and no recent records in either the (new) atlas nor Eremaea. There is one unconfirmed record from Clarkesdale Bird Sanctuary on 3 May, 1980 in Eremaea, marked “Probably”. Certainly worth checking each and every Blue-winged Parrot seen at the WTP and nearby.
Paul Dodd Docklands, Victoria
My vote is for Elegant Parrot.
Mike Carter 30 Canadian Bay Road Mount Eliza VIC 3930 Tel (03) 9787 7136