Platycercus adscitus
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 ~20%
The pale-headed rosella (Platycercus adscitus), is a broad-tailed parrot of the genus Platycercus native to northeastern Australia. It is a moderate-size parrot with a pale yellow head, predominantly white cheeks, scalloped black and gold back and pale blue underparts. Two subspecies are recognised, although some authorities consider it to be conspecific with the eastern rosella of southeastern Australia.
Found in open woodland, it feeds on seeds and fruit. As with other rosellas, the pale-headed rosella nests in hollows of large trees. It readily adapts to aviculture and is sold as a cagebird. The pale-headed rosella was formally described in 1790 by the English ornithologist John Latham and given the binomial name Psittacus adscitus. The specific epithet is from Latin asciscere meaning "to approve". Latham did not specify a locality but in 1912 Gregory Mathews designated the locality as Cooktown, Queensland in northeast Australia. The pale-headed rosella is now placed in the genus Platycercus that was introduced in 1925 by Nicholas Aylward Vigors.
There are two subspecies, the nominate adscitus (Cape York Peninsula) and the better known palliceps (eastern Queensland... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Springbrook National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 2 | Noosa National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Lamington National Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brisbane | 🇦🇺 Australia |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Kyiv Zoo | 🇺🇦 Ukraine | |
| 3 | Almaty Zoo | 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan | |
| 4 | Loro Parque | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 5 | Discovery Cove | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 7 | Flying High Bird Sanctuary | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 8 | Fauna Reserve | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 9 | Wildlife Habitat Port Douglas | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Pale-headed Rosella sighting in Lamington National Park on a given day, based on 139 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 80th most-seen of the 171 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 10%, and over a week to about 20%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March, June–July and September
In those months about 10% of wildlife watchers report a Pale-headed Rosella in Lamington National Park on a given day, against under 5% in April–May, August and October–February, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pale-headed Rosella sightings with a recorded time, and nearly all of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
3rd of 3
Of the 3 parks where we can rate Pale-headed Rosella sightings, Lamington National Park ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Springbrook National Park (Australia, about 10%) and Noosa National Park (Australia, about 10%).
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pale-headed Rosella is recorded against all the birds logged in Lamington National Park (139 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
