Scientific Name: Neophema pulchella

The male turquoise parrot's face and cheeks are vivid turquoise blue and the under parts rich daffodil yellow with a greenish tinge on flanks and sides of the breast. A reddish-brown patch is present on the shoulders and the edges of the wings are blue. The female has a pale blue forehead and cheeks and the breast is yellowish green, becoming clear yellow on abdomen and under the tail. She has no red marking on the shoulder. These are small parrots rarely exceeding 20cm in length.

Did You Know? The female turquoise parrot will sometimes take green foliage into the nest hole to line the floor. These are not carried in her beak but she wedges them into the feathers of her back.

Habitat: Turquoise parrots favour grasslands which are in the vicinity of timbered tracts and prefer hilly, well-forested districts. It occurs from south-east Queensland to northern Victoria. Formerly widespread in Victoria, east of Melbourne, but now only in small numbers, mostly in Gippsland.

Diet: Turquoise parrots feed on the seeds of grasses and low growing plants. They feed mostly on the ground where their dark green colour serves as an excellent camouflage. The birds feed morning and evening, spending the heat of the day in the shade of the trees.

Reproduction: The natural breeding place is a hole in the tree at varying heights. Sometimes nests are found in fallen logs, stumps or fenceposts. The actual nest chamber may be about a metre from the entrance, and quite large holes may be used by these birds. The breeding season lasts from August to December. The usual clutch numbers 4-5 and incubation lasts about 3 weeks. The young birds leave the nest when they are about 4 weeks old, and about a fortnight later are able to feed themselves. Young turquoises are often very nervous when they first leave the nest.