Pale-headed Rosella

About the Pale-headed Rosella

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 →