Regent Parrot

1. Greenish-yellow body with black wings featuring red and yellow patches

2. Long tail and bright pinkish-red bill

3. Loud, squeaky chattering calls, especially in flight

Regent Parrots feed on seeds of eucalypts, acacias, grasses, and herbaceous plants, as well as fruits, buds, blossoms, and green shoots. They also consume wheat and cultivated fruits, sometimes becoming crop pests. Foraging occurs both on the ground and in the canopy, often in pairs or small flocks, but larger groups may form outside the breeding season. Breeding occurs from August to January (sometimes May), with nests established in deep hollows of mature or dead trees, usually river red gums, always above 4 meters and within 5 km of mallee blocks. Females lay 4–6 eggs, incubating them for about 21 days; young fledge after approximately six weeks. The male feeds the incubating female, and both parents feed the chicks.

Regent Parrots are found in two separate populations: the southeastern population inhabits riverine eucalypt woodlands and adjacent mallee scrublands in Victoria, South Australia, and New South Wales, while the southwestern population occupies various wooded habitats, including partially cleared areas in dense coastal forest in Western Australia. In the southeast, they always breed within 20 km of mallee or cultivated land and require mature river red gums for nesting and large blocks of mallee woodland for feeding and roosting. They move between feeding and nesting areas using vegetated corridors and are rarely seen far from water.