The Elegant Parrot is a species of parrot

Parrot

Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

 in the Psittacidae family.
It is endemic to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

.

Taxonomy

The Elegant Parrot was originally named by the renowned ornithologist and artist John Gould

John Gould

John Gould was an English ornithologist and bird artist. The Gould League in Australia was named after him. His identification of the birds now nicknamed "Darwin's finches" played a role in the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection...

 in 1837, its specific name Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

for "elegant". It is one of six species of grass parrot in the genus Neophema, and within it a member of the subgenus Neonanodes. Its common name is Elegant Parrot, but has also been called Elegant Parakeet, Elegant Grass Parakeet, and Grass Parrot in the past.

Description

The Elegant Parrot is 23 cm (9 in) long and predominantly golden olive in colour with a dark blue frontal band line above with lighter blue. while abdomen and vent are yellow. The female is a duller shade of olive all over and has a narrower blue frontal band. The wings are predominantly olive with outer flight feathers dark blue. The yellow edged tail has shades of olive and blue. The bill and legs are grey and the eyes dark brown. Juveniles are duller and lack the frontal bands.

Distribution and habitat

The Elegant Parrot is found in two disjunct regions, one across southwestern Australia from Moora in the north to Merredin and Esperance in the east, and in southeastern South Australia (including Kangaroo Island) north to Marree, and east into western Victoria.

Breeding

Breeding season is anywhere from July to November or after rainfall, with one or occasionally two broods raised depending on rainfall. A hollow higher than 15 m (50 ft) above the ground in a tree, usually a eucalypt along a watercourse or stringybark forest, is utilised for nesting, and a clutch of four to six round white eggs measuring 21 x 18 mm is laid there.