western australia

bunbury wildlife park

princess parrot

A pretty princess parrot

@JudyEv (340019)

Rockingham, Australia

November 2, 2021 12:32am CST

While we were walking through one of the bird enclosures at the Bunbury Wildlife Park, there was a flutter of wings in my ear and a princess parrot (Polytelis alexandrae) landed on my shoulder. It chatted away in my ear for a while then was happy to be transferred to Vince’s arm. The name was given in honour of Princess Alexandra of Denmark. She married the Prince of Wales, Edward VII in 1863. The birds may live as long as 30 years and are popular with aviculturalists and as pets because of their looks and personality The birds are mostly green with a pink throat, bluish crown and rump and bright green shoulders. I think ‘mine’ might be a male as they have a coral-red beak. Males also have a longer, projecting extension from the third flight feather on each side. This is called a spatula or spatula and only occurs in mature males. I didn’t know about that detail so didn’t think to look for it.

21 people like this

22 responses

@LadyDuck (471540)

• Switzerland

2 Nov 21

This bird has pretty colours and it looks so friendly.

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@LadyDuck (471540)

• Switzerland

2 Nov 21

I am sure it was a weird sensation to have it so close to your ear.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

@LadyDuck I am always a bit concerned that they might bite. There were signs on every cage saying 'I bite and I bite hard' so that wasn't very encouraging.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

It was a very sweet little thing and twittered away in my ear for quite some time.

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@xFiacre (13020)

• Ireland

2 Nov 21

@judyev A bluish rump you say? Never seen a bird with a blush rump! Are they related to what we call love birds?

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@Fleura (30398)

• United Kingdom

2 Nov 21

@JudyEv They are both in the same family - Psittaculidae - but it's a large family! So distantly related.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

@Fleura Thanks for that. I'm down with a cold and didn't have the energy to go looking.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

I had a bluish rump after our vertical bed pulled away from the wall and hit me on the way down!! As far as I know, these aren't related to love birds.

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@Juliaacv (51197)

• Canada

2 Nov 21

The parrot has such pretty colouring. They have quite a long life span, someone at my age would need to ask their survivors if they would care for it if it outlived the owner.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

That can be a problem with some of our larger cockatoos. Some live 70+ years so could quite easily outlive their owners.

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@DaddyEvil (137259)

• United States

2 Nov 21

It's a very pretty bird, whether male or female... and apparently, very friendly.

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@DaddyEvil (137259)

• United States

3 Nov 21

@JudyEv How did you know what I was going to ask next?

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

@DaddyEvil I'm psychic. I can read you like a book - one with big print and not much in it.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

It was really lovely and nice that it chose me to land on - and nice that it didn't shat on me.

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@DesirousDreamer (34776)

• Peoria, Arizona

2 Nov 21

They are so pretty! They kind of remind me of bigger version of the Rosy-cheek, Peach-face, I like calling them peach-cheek lovebirds we have here. We have a whole colony that I think they escape from a pet store many many years ago, they lived just 3 miles away and at the beginning of this year they started moving over to my area and I get such joy seeing them. I know they are invasive, but seeing the pretty green colors and peach faces bring so much joy haha

2 people like this

@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

It's hard not to like pretty birds even if they are invasive.

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@prasuns (1288)

• New Delhi, India

2 Nov 21

The bird is so colourful and cute i wish i had one, not too many to look for in our area.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

We have a great many birds in our country areas and even quite a few in the cities.

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@wilsongoddard (7291)

• United States

5 Nov 21

Such a beautiful bird. I would say that the fuzzies are interested in knowing more, but they are too busy investigating the hotel room to be bothered with birds.

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@wilsongoddard (7291)

• United States

7 Nov 21

@JudyEv We had to go somewhere for a few days to take care of some things. The cats always travel with us. The girl is a seasoned traveler, and the boy is learning to travel. Although, he hates being put into the carrier; he goes a bit wild cat when I try to stick him into his carrier. His sister generally admits defeat pretty quickly and walks in.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

5 Nov 21

Have you taken them with you somewhere?

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

10 Nov 21

@wilsongoddard We've seen in caravans with leads on them and they are perfectly at home wherever they happen to spend the night.

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@rebelann (112879)

• El Paso, Texas

3 Nov 21

Wow, great shots of the two of you and the bird is a beauty.

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@rebelann (112879)

• El Paso, Texas

4 Nov 21

I've seen some really colorful ones in videos but here there are mostly gray, brown or such.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

Thanks. Some birds have so many colours on them, don't they?

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@Shavkat (139933)

• Philippines

2 Nov 21

Can be trained to speak?

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@Shavkat (139933)

• Philippines

3 Nov 21

@JudyEv I am glad that they can do a few phrases.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

They are not the best at talking but some do learn a few phrases.

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@RebeccasFarm (89882)

• Arvada, Colorado

2 Nov 21

Well now what a lovely blessing Judy

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@RebeccasFarm (89882)

• Arvada, Colorado

3 Nov 21

I wish I were a little bird to fly to visit my lovely friend Judy

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

I felt privileged that it had chosen to visit me.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

@RebeccasFarm We would have a lot of fun together.

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@LindaOHio (178701)

• United States

2 Nov 21

How cool! I love parrots and would love to have a bird; but they are soooo messy. Great pictures of the two of you and the bird.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

They are indeed messy. I wouldn't really want one for that reason.

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@LindaOHio (178701)

• United States

2 Nov 21

@JudyEv It's a shame too because they can be very affectionate and learn to talk, etc.

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Krissttina Isobe

@oahuwriter (26777)

• United States

3 Nov 21

It's pretty & very friendly. Do they train these parrots or was it just a little luck, the parrot landed on your shoulder?

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

The parrots would get used to people over the years. It could also have been a pet at one point and has stayed friendly.

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Krissttina Isobe

@oahuwriter (26777)

• United States

4 Nov 21

@JudyEv So nice that it's friendly. Glad you had a nice time.

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@CarolDM (203422)

• Nashville, Tennessee

2 Nov 21

I would love to visit this bird enclosure. Nice photos. What a cool visit you had.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

It's only taken us 20 years to get there!!

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

4 Nov 21

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@CarolDM (203422)

• Nashville, Tennessee

3 Nov 21

@JudyEv Oh well, you are there now.

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@DocAndersen (54402)

• United States

2 Nov 21

Parrots are amazing - beautiful birds. Love the pictures of the two of you!!!!

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

I thought about getting Vince to photoshop them a bit.

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@DocAndersen (54402)

• United States

2 Nov 21

@JudyEv they are awesome the way they are

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@allknowing (136446)

• India

3 Nov 21

These birds are kind of trained. While on holiday in Singapore we had visited the park there and noticed how friendly the birds were. No they did not perch on my shoulder though

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

It would be used to haveing lots and lots of people going through the enclosure that's for sure.

@simone10 (54187)

• Louisville, Kentucky

3 Nov 21

Such a lovely bird.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

Thanks. I thought so too.

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@wolfgirl569 (106298)

• Marion, Ohio

2 Nov 21

Pretty bird and very friendly

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

It was very friendly. And wasn't in a hurry to leave.

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@RasmaSandra (79858)

• Daytona Beach, Florida

3 Nov 21

A very beautiful parrot so colorful,

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

It had so many different colours.

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@Fleura (30398)

• United Kingdom

2 Nov 21

It's always special when an animal chooses to come to you, isn't it? Beautiful birds.

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

2 Nov 21

It is indeed. Just a bit of a flutter and there it was.

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@Ronrybs (19281)

• London, England

2 Nov 21

We have Indian Ring Neck parakeets here, but they are nowhere near as friendly, Very noisy mind you

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@JudyEv (340019)

• Rockingham, Australia

3 Nov 21

They have them at this park too. For a start, I thought this was one but it's a princess. Some of the parrots and cockatoos are incredibly noisy.

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