Golden Mantled Rosella

by Lydia Holly

Title

Golden Mantled Rosella

Artist

Lydia Holly

Medium

Photograph - Photography-textured

Description

The Golden-mantled Rosella (Platycercus eximius elecica / Platycercus eximius ceciliae) - also known as Cecilia's Rosella - is native to South-eastern Queensland and North-eastern New South Wales in Australia.

Golden Mantle Rosellas average 12 inches (30 cm) in length.

In the normal form of the Golden Mantle red covers the nape of the neck and extends to the upper breast. The cheek patches are white. Black feathers edged with golden yellow cover the back producing a pearling effect while the wing converts and tail are a bright blue. A green suffusion can be seen on the rump, abdomen and tail.

Hens are often slightly duller in color. In mature Golden Mantle hens of the normal form you can see a white striping under the wing feathers but this is not so when dealing with all the Golden Mantle mutations.

Sexing young birds can prove difficult and DNA sexing may be the only way to know for sure at a young age. However, it may be possible to sex birds that are at least 9 months as the molt into adult plumage. .However birds at least 9 months old can be visualy sexed.

Young birds attain the adult coloration after their second molt - when they are about 12 to 16 months old. At that time they also become sexually mature.

Source: Beauty of Birds Website

Uploaded

November 18th, 2014

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags