Inhabiting most of Australia’s arid and semi-arid areas, the Australian Ringneck is one of our most commonly spotted parrots and is often seen along the narrow timbered strips of roadside vegetation or dashing overhead in a bright array of passing…
Inhabiting most of Australia’s arid and semi-arid areas, the Australian Ringneck is one of our most commonly spotted parrots and is often seen along the narrow timbered strips of roadside vegetation or dashing overhead in a bright array of passing colour over our campsites.
They’re adaptive birds and forage both in trees and on the ground searching for seeds, buds, flowers and other plant matter and seek water daily. They mate for life and are are usually seen in pairs, although they do gather in family parties, but very rarely gather in large flocks.
The Mallee Ringneck, Twenty-Eight Parrot, Port Lincoln Parrot and Cloncurry Parrot were once all classified as individual species until further study revealed that they share too many similarities. Their appearance, diet, behavior and willingness to interbreed within the sub-species has brought them all under the same name.
Slight variances in colour are noted across the country but they all share the yellow collar, hence the ‘ringneck’ name. Seeing one up close for yourself can range from easy to downright impossible! Your best chance to see one up close and possibly get a photo is to visit caravan and council park areas which are frequented by humans, as the isolated birds are incredibly flighty. They are a beautiful native parrot and well worth looking out for more closely!
