page_title: Crimson rosella
section_title: Distribution and habitat
hierarchical_section_title: Crimson rosella / Distribution and habitat
caption_attribution_description: English: Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans). A juvenile, still with some green plumage, in Canberra, Australia.
context_page_description: The crimson rosella is a parrot native to eastern and south eastern Australia which has been introduced to New Zealand and Norfolk Island. It is commonly found in, but not restricted to, mountain forests and gardens. The species as it now stands has subsumed two former separate species, the yellow rosella and the Adelaide rosella. Molecular studies show one of the three red-coloured races, P. e. nigrescens, is genetically more distinct.
context_section_description: The crimson rosella occurs from southeastern South Australia, through Tasmania, Victoria and coastal New South Wales into southeastern Queensland. A disparate population occurs in North Queensland.
  Around 1910, a small number of crimson rosellas were released off the Otago Heads, New Zealand, along with eastern rosellas. These interbred and by the 1950s no pure crimson rosellas remained. This mixed population has remained there ever since. Crimson rosellas were also present in Wellington City from 1963 through the early 1990s as an introduced species. Two crimson rosellas were also recorded from the Tararua foothills in 1971. It is now thought to be extinct in the wild in New Zealand.
  Crimson rosellas were taken to Norfolk Island as cage birds during the first penal settlement. Escaping into the wild, they were reported before 1838, and have become numerous by 1900. There they are often known as "red parrots", to distinguish them from the native Norfolk Island parakeet or "green parrots".
  Crimson rosellas are common in coastal and mountain forests at all altitudes. They primarily live in forests and woodlands, preferring older and wetter forests. They can be found in tropical, subtropical, and temperate rainforests, both wet and dry sclerophyllous forests, riparian forests, and woodlands, all the way from sea level up to the tree line. They will also live in human-affected areas such as farmlands, pastures, fire-breaks, parks, reserves, gardens, and golf-courses. They are rarely found in treeless areas. At night, they roost on high tree branches.
caption: Juvenile with prominent green plumage
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