page_title: Red-capped parrot
section_title: Feeding
hierarchical_section_title: Red-capped parrot / Behaviour / Feeding
caption_attribution_description: Photo taken by Bradford Jones, WikiCommon with his explicit permission.
context_page_description: The red-capped parrot is a species of broad-tailed parrot native to southwest Western Australia. It was described by Heinrich Kuhl in 1820, with no subspecies recognised. It has long been classified in its own genus owing to its distinctive elongated beak, though genetic analysis shows that it lies within the lineage of the Psephotellus parrots and that its closest relative is the mulga parrot. Not easily confused with other parrot species, it has a bright crimson crown, green-yellow cheeks, and a distinctive long bill. The wings, back, and long tail are dark green, and the underparts are purple-blue. The adult female is very similar though sometimes slightly duller than the male; her key distinguishing feature is a white stripe on the wing under-surface. Juveniles are predominantly green.
  Found in woodland and open savanna country, the red-capped parrot is predominantly herbivorous, consuming seeds, particularly of eucalypts, as well as flowers and berries, but insects are occasionally eaten. Nesting takes place in tree hollows, generally of older large trees.
context_section_description: Marri seeds are the preferred diet, but it also extracts seeds from karri (Eucalyptus diversicolor), woody pear (Xylomelum), Grevillea, Hakea, dryandra (Banksia) and sheoak (Casuarina, Allocasuarina), mangite (Banksia grandis), as well as from grasses, herbs, or shrubs associated with marri-dominated vegetation types. The beak of this parrot allows more precision to obtain seeds from a eucalypt's capsule, the tough case of marri is chewed through by the ringneck parrot or cleaved by the powerful beak of cockatoos (Cacatuidae species). The immature fruit of marri is also consumed. A grass species—wild oats (Avena fatua)—and acacia are grazed for green seed. Records of feeding on acacia seed pods include Acacia celastrifolia, A. dentifera, A. oncinophylla and A. restiacea, which occur in its range, and stripping pods for small seed of cultivated Acacia merinthophora. The nectar filled  blooms of kangaroo paws (Anigozanthos sp.) are also sought out, although, unlike the honeyeater and spinebill, their weight breaks the long stalk when feeding. Any viable seed that is consumed may be undigested and dispersed.
  Although the red-capped parrot eats fewer introduced plant species than other parrots, it does eat the seeds of slender thistle (Carduus pycnocephalus), sheep thistle (C. tenuiflorus), and variegated thistle (Silybum marianum). The species has also adapted to exploit the introduction of orchard fruit such as apples and pears and the gardens of suburban areas. The red-capped parrot bites predominantly red-skinned apples, attempting to retrieve the seed from inside. It does not eat the flesh but instead squeezes it to drink the juice. The fruit of other cultivated introductions are also selected, including almond, nectarine, olive, peaches, plums, pomegranates, and white cedar (Melia azedarach). Insects such as psyllids also form part of their diet. Insect larvae and lerp are also consumed, particularly in late winter and spring during its breeding season. 
  The red-capped parrot primarily feeds on the ground, clasping the capsule of eucalypts or cones of sheoak with one foot and extracting the seed with their slender hooked beak. The dexterity it exhibits using its foot and beak to dislodge seeds is also shown by the long-billed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus baudinii). The two occur in the same habitat, both specialising in extracting the marri's store of large seeds. Both species prise marri seeds out of their woody capsule by manipulating it with the foot and lower mandible, and inserting the point of the upper mandible at openings in the seed-dispersing valve. The marks left by the lower mandible on the marri's nut distinguish it from those fed on by other parrots and cockatoos. The red-capped parrot leaves shallow marks around the opening of the capsule, with little damage to the husk. The species mainly feeds and manipulates objects with its left foot; limited sampling of Australian parrot species indicates that laterality is associated with larger size, and many of these are left-footed, though two other broad-tailed parrot species (crimson rosella and Australian ringneck) are right-footed, and smaller species show no preference.
caption: Adult feeding on Grevillea seeds
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