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Mini portrait: Pale-headed Rosella

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Pale-headed Rosellas, series of images showing the great variance in plumage colours and patterning within this species.

Photos from the internet.

Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus) is a widespread and beloved representative of the brightly coloured and popular Australian Rosella genus, or rather the Platycercus genus. It is thus one of the more common species within this genus that one encounters among aviculturists.


According to "Howard & Moore's Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World", Vol. I, from spring 2013 as well as the latest version 4.1 (August 2018), "Errata and Corrigenda to Volume I", there exist 2 different forms of Pale-headed Rosellas, namely the one most often seen in human care (read: captivity), the subspecies Platycercus adscitus palliceps and the less common - and somewhat smaller nominate form - Platycercus adscitus adscitus. However, more recent taxonomic studies (Akademie für Vogelhaltung, Berlin, 2023) have shown that in the future we will probably have to get used to the fact that there are at least 3 different forms of Pale-headed Rosella, which include the following:

 

  • Blue Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus adscitus) - the nominate form, as well as the subspecies:
  • Southern Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus palliceps), and the
  • Yellow Blue-cheeked Rosella (Platycercus adscitus cyanogenys), which is the most recently discovered subspecies, characterized by being an almost completely yellow bird.

 

To my knowledge, only the forms Blue Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus adscitus) and Southern Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus palliceps) are found among aviculturists in Europe.


The colours and the colour pattern of the plumage on the Pale-headed Rosella has always fascinated me, because it appears to be very unusual and at the same time incredibly beautiful. These birds can measure up to approximately 33 cm in length, and the two sexes are basically the same in appearance, however the female is typically somewhat weaker and more washed out in the colours, just as it is generally smaller in size and has a slightly smaller and more rounded head. Female birds in adult plumage have the white "stripe" known to the Rosella species across the underside of the wings, and can be reliably distinguished from males on this basis.


Systematically speaking, this species with associated subspecies is difficult to handle, as it phenotypically exhibits a very large diversity when it comes to the colour composition of the plumage between yellow and blue feathers, whereas the birds – although often very different in appearance – have many common genetic features.


In the wild, the subspecies - the Southern Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus palliceps) - lives in Australia in southern Queensland and New South Wales, where they typically occur in flat, open country habitats – savanna, grasslands and roadsides – including a variety of other habitats such as open woodland, scrubs and riverine woodland, but also agricultural areas and coastal heath. It can be found up to 700 m. The Blue Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus adscitus) comes from northern Queensland, while the newest detected subspecies, the Yellow Blue-cheeked Rosella (Platycercus adscitus cyanogenys), is confined to the northeastern part of the Cape York Peninsula, Queensland.


The Pale-headed Rosella is noisy and conspicuous early in the day and is generally seen in flocks or pairs feeding quietly on the ground or vocalizing in the bushes. It has probably benefitted from cultivation and the addition of artificial watering areas.


The Pale-headed Rosella under one has a total distribution area of approximately 2.2 million km2 and is thus not threatened, as Birdlife International has categorized its status as being of "Least Concern". It appears abundant throughout most of the range. However, in the south of its range where it lives together with the closely related Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius), it is sporadic in numbers.

1,0 Southern Pale-headed Rosella.

In Australia, in the transitional area between the subspecies (palliceps) and the nominate form, there are crosses of the two different forms. In addition, bastards are also known from nature arising from, partly Eastern Rosella (Platycercus eximius), partly the Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans).


Unfortunately, in human care, the Pale-headed Rosella has also been bastardized with other Rosella species, and it is therefore somewhat doubtful whether genetically pure specimens still exist in our latitudes, in addition to the fact that it has now been proven that in each fall at least 3 different forms of the Pale-headed Rosella probably exist. I have been interested in parrots for more than 5 decades, and among aviculturists and at exhibitions I have only seen specimens of the Southern Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus palliceps) quite a few times, which in terms of phenotype must be considered (sub)species pure, but when you find these specimens, it is a great pleasure and joy to see a bird with a completely sharply marked plumage, including a completely white and clearly marked cheek patch without the hint of blue feathers.


Against the background of some aviculturists completely misunderstood urge to systematically change the birds' natural appearance, the nominate form, Blue Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus adscitus), now exists in a very brightly coloured version; this bird's entire cheek spot is strongly blue coloured, and also the upper part of the chest is intensely blue coloured. In the wild, you mainly see these birds with only the lower part of the cheek being blue, whereas the upper part of the cheek is white/slightly yellowish. Another difference between birds in the wild and birds in human care, is that the upper part of the breast, which in the nominate form in the wild is yellowish, on the very intensively coloured specimens of the Blue Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus adscitus) in human care has the strong blue colour right up to the upper part of the breast, which is really only known from the subspecies, the Southern Pale-headed Rosella (Platycercus adscitus palliceps). So there can be big differences between specimens of these birds in the wild and in human care. It is an expression of a completely derailed and systematic "refinement" of the nominate form, which does not belong anywhere, but unfortunately it is these very intensively - but incorrectly coloured birds - that are in demand, and that certain aviculturists obviously make money from.


4 - 5 rounded white eggs are laid by the female bird during the breeding season in February - June in the north and September - December in the south. Their nest is usually found in a deep hollow in living or dead trees.



Jorgen Petersen



Conceived/Updated: 05.05.2017 / 11.01.2024 

 

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1,0 Southern Pale-headed Rosella.