ROSELLAS; AN AUSTRALIAN VIEWPOINT: The History of Rosellas in Australian Aviculture

Abstract

As stated in the accompanying article by Dale R. Thompson, "the rosella group of parrots originates from Australia and they are one of the largest of the Australian parrot families." The fact that there are a total of 19 species and subspecies (Hutchins & Lovell), together with their striking colors, has combined to attract the attention of bird lovers, naturalists, ornithologists, scientists and aviculturists.

There is no doubt that the color, variety, and individuality of the Australian rosellas is the reason for the interest in these fascinating parrots by aviculturists in the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.

Sixty years ago Neville W. Cayley, a noted Australian ornithologist, wrote, "The second illustration of an Australian parrot was painted ... [by) the artist, William Ellis, executing a water-colour drawing of the Tasmanian Green Rosella." This painting, dated 1777, is in the British Museum (since renamed The Natural History Museum). The earliest known painting of an Australian parrot was a female Red-tailed Black Cockatoo which is also in the same museum.

I believe this reference to the Tasmanian rosella is an interesting, albeit different, way of introducing the history of the rosellas to Watchbird readers. One or more species or subspecies of this fascinating and colorful group of birds are to be found in each state of mainland Australia, as well as the island state of Tasmania.

In recent years, thousands of overseas visitors, including many Americans, have traveled to Australia for a holiday "Down Under" where they have marvelled at the beauty of the rosellas-one of the natural wonders of the Australian countryside. These parakeets which are, with the odd exception, gaudily colored birds are commonly known as broadtail parrots and collectively as rosellas. The scientific name for the genus, Platycercus, denotes this fact, i.e. Platys is Greek for flat and cercos is Greek for tail.

The Distinctive Markings of the Rosellas

Each Australian rosella has two obvious plumage characteristics: 1) well-defined cheek patches (white or yellow); and 2) the scalloped pattern on their back whereby each feather is usually edged with the general body color of the bird (i.e. red, yellow or green). The mottled effect on the back of each species or subspecies is a feature unique to the rosellas which are all medium-sized birds that feature long gradated tails.

Popularity as a Captive Bird

The rosellas have always been a popular aviary bird in Australia and, in days gone by when trapping of native birds was allowed (taking native Australian birds from the wild is now banned), it was quite common for people to take young parrots from the nest and handrear them as pets. In the case of the rosellas they would usually obtain the species that was common to their area.

All the rosellas are popular as aviary birds in Australia. I believe there are four reasons for this popularity:

1. their beautiful colors;

2. their hardy nature and longevity;

3. their suitability to captivity;

4. their basic dietary needs are easily met.

Early History-1930s

We know that the various members of the rosella family have been kept and bred in Australian aviculture for a long, long, time. It is difficult to trace the early history of captive breedings

however, partly because the first avicultural society in Australia was not formed until 1928--150 years after the European settlement of Australia.

The oldest society, the Avicultural Society of South Australia (ASSA) was founded in Adelaide, South Australia, in 1928. This progressive society is still as active as ever. Although the ASSA had a "South Australian Section" in Australian Aviculture, the monthly journal of the A vi cultural Society of Australia, for almost nine years (April 1949 - December 1957) it was not until February 1958, 30 years later after its formation, that the Avicultural Society of South Australia began publishing its own magazine-Bird Keeping in Australia.

I've included this "club" information to assist readers of Watchbird to more easily understand why, prior to 1928, there was no publication available for the recording the avicultural pursuits of the day, let alone the breeding records of the Australian rosellas.

Australia suffered from the same problem experienced in other countries-bird keeping magazines were occasionally launched, but eventually ceased publication. For example, a short-lived but informative weekly magazine, Australian Cage Birds Weekry, was published for several months (maybe longer?) in 1936-1937. In format this publication was based on the English weekly Cage & Aviary Birds newspaper. Perhaps the impact of World War II caused its early demise.

Likewise, the Victorian Avicultural Society existed in 1932. This was Melbourne-based but, for some unknown reason disappeared without leaving any record of its aims and achievements. A similar thing occurred in Western Australia in the 1930s when the "original"(?) Perth-based A vicultural Society of Western Australia came and went without leaving any information behind about its existence or achievements. The present day Avicultural Society of Western Australia, which was founded in Perth in 1956, is still extremely active.