Australian King Parrot

[Matt SP]

I learnt yesterday that there's a Australian King Parrot that visits my street pretty regularly, and has done so for a few years! It apparently hangs with a flock of Eastern Rosellas around the One Tree Hill area in Auckland. It visits a lady who puts out seed for the rosellas a few doors down and she said she last saw it three months ago, but it was back again yesterday. I managed to get a few pictures of it, some are bit blurry though.

[Neil Fitzgerald]

Nice bird. Interesting that it has gone a few years without being widely reported. No sign of a leg band? Hopefully Steps sees this and can tell us whether many people band captive parrots. Is someone likely to free-range one of these?
N

[Jim_j]

Now NZ's rarest parrot?
I suspect free range - there are a few people that let their pet parrots out during the day and they return to the cage at night - I suspect they are responsible for many of the s/c cockatoo and galah groups around.
Don't know anything about King Parrots though - could it be a windblown straggler? - although I guess it's location in central Auck strongly points to human assistance...

cheers
jim

[Steps]

That is a nice looking male king...
We never put leg rings on any of our birds.. had a couple accidents getting caught many yrs ago in the aviaries/ flights. If breeding in small cages, and had raising one doesnt run into such issues. W had enough flights to keep track of breeding lines without rings.
We used to breed them and Crimson wings... both make great house parrots. Our king parrot house parrot for many years was parent raised and then tamed down.. keeping the original independent nature, non psychologly depend on people... basically one co habits as flat mates. He only pent around 3 hrs locked in a the cage.. we had a function here. Otherwise just roamed around... even with the cat when we went on holiday. Kings and crimsons are not noisy and are not destructive chewers.

Yes under stand hanging out with Rosella... we always had a flock of Rosella hanging around the area during most days.. middle of urban sth auckland .. and would inter act. call back and forth the the kings and crimsons .. nothing between the Rosella and kakariki thu (which are 'distant cousins')

A parent raised/ wild male king will tame down very nice and very easy, but will always maintain a more independent aloofness where as the female will interact far more ready. Taming down a 'wild' adult larger of the more intelligent parrots to the point of hand feeding takes 2 to 3 days if done the slow way in a aviary.

" Is someone likely to free-range one of these?"
No they are not prolific breeders... if luck in captivity produce 2 to 4 birds in a good year.. make excellent free range (like a cat) pets . I would imagine
1/ hes been a caged or aviary bird . escaped, the owners run out after him in a panic tried to catch him, hes panicked and flown wide before , having a chance to perch high as get bearings.. cant find his way home.
2/ Escaped from a aviary in a storm.

We lost the roof on a avairy of 60 odd kakariki a few yrs back....a lot where still in the aviary.. flighing in a and out.. so left them to it and waited for dusk for most to head back for a feed and roost....like cats dogs cows pigs etc. About 15 where in the trees around deciding to stay there... and we fixed the roof that evening.
Next day a couple of those live rat traps with a bit fruit . veggies in....by midday they where all back in the aviary.

Like my grandfather used to say..." Count to 10 VERY slowly .. THEN panic in a orderly manner"

[tomdennison]

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I saw this bird in Maungakiekie on Twin Oak Drive a few days ago, seemed curious so I went down a googling rabbit hole which lead me to this forum.

[Davidthomas]

Yep a Male King Parrot. They’re relatively common in captivity so I suggest someone in the local area has had a bit of a jailbreak!

[chris]

Guessing the rosella is a wild mate of the king.

[Steps]

Quite likely... Rosella have been crossed with kakariki oversea.. the result is a very ugly bird.

[VanessaMS]

Tuesday 8 May: I heard a strange noise in a tree near my garden. I was sweeping up autumn leaves. I thought at first it was an Eastern Rosella but the it was not the chittering sound they make. I could only see the bird from below and it was completely red. A lovely dark red not the scarlet of the rosellas. It appeared to be slightly larger than the Eastern rosellas. It was alone and the rosellas nearly always come through in pairs or flocks. A little detective work suggests it was an Australian king parrot. A very beautiful bird from below at least.

[Neil Fitzgerald]

Hi Vanessa. Size can be a difficult thing to judge, but I would say a king parrot is much bigger than a rosella, more than twice the weight. I guess from the angle you had it might not have been possible to see the wings/back.