Psephotus haematonotus
Silhouette: Farelli (photo), John E. McCormack, Michael G. Harvey, Brant C. Faircloth, Nicholas G. Crawford, Travis C. Glenn, Robb T. Brumfield & T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~10% in a week ~30%
The red-rumped parrot (Psephotus haematonotus), also known as the red-backed parrot or grass parrot, is a medium-sized broad-tailed parrot endemic to open woodland in south-eastern Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin. It is a highly sexually dimorphic species, with the adult female mainly being a greyish olive-green with lighter underparts and the adult male predominantly being a brightly coloured green and gold with various shades of blue on the wings. Only the adult male possesses the red rump that gives the species its common name.
It is commonly found in open, grassy habitats, both in natural open woodland and in man-made environments such as paddocks, fields, parks and gardens. It has adapted well to rural and suburban areas and is commonly observed foraging on the ground for a variety of seeds.
The red-rumped parrot was described by John Gould in 1838 as Platycercus haematonotus from a specimen collected in New South Wales. He felt it was intermediate between the genera Platycercus and the now obsolete genus Nanodes, placing it in the former. He gave it its species name on account of its red rump. Gould later reclassified it as Psephotus... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hattah-Kulkyne National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Flinders Ranges National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Grampians National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Blue Mountains National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 5 | Great Otway National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Zoobotanic Park of Brusque | 🇧🇷 Brazil | |
| 3 | Kyabram Fauna Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 4 | Yerevan Zoo | 🇦🇲 Armenia | |
| 5 | Taronga Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 6 | Wilhelma | 🇩🇪 Germany | |
| 7 | Tashkent Zoo | 🇺🇿 Uzbekistan | |
| 8 | Loro Parque | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Belgrade Zoo | 🇷🇸 Serbia | |
| 10 | Gorge Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 11 | Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 12 | Agroflori Parque de las Aves | 🇧🇴 Bolivia | |
| 13 | Castellar Zoo | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 14 | Flying High Bird Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 15 | Bloedel Conservatory | 🇨🇦 Canada |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Red-rumped Parrot sighting in Sydney on a given day, based on 703 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 86th most-seen of the 243 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 30%, if each day is a fresh chance.
September
In that month about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Red-rumped Parrot in Sydney on a given day, against under 5% in October to August, the lowest months. That is one of Sydney's driest months, with about 45 mm of rain against 130 mm in February.
Between 2 and 5 pm
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Red-rumped Parrot sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
2nd of 2
Of the 2 cities where we can rate Red-rumped Parrot sightings, Sydney ranks 2nd at under 5%. The best odds are in Melbourne (Australia, about 20%).
Same family: Psittacidae
The closest relatives of the Red-rumped Parrot that you can see in Sydney (family Psittacidae, New World and African Parrots) are Coconut Lorikeet (about 80%), Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (about 60%) and Little Corella (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Red-rumped Parrot is recorded against all the birds logged in Sydney (703 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
