Help eastern rosellas feel more at home in your neighbourhood
 "Eastern rosella.. Image: K.Stepnell/DECC")
Visitors from overseas are often amazed to find eastern rosellas in Australia's cities.
That's right! Thankfully, these brightly coloured parrots are still found in our urban areas. They eat various types of seed, berries, blossoms and nectar.
If you're lucky, you will find eastern rosellas on the ground, in pairs or small groups. Many people enjoy hearing them chatter as they feed on fallen seeds. They are not timid, and often allow people to approach close enough to admire their beautiful feathers.
When they move to the treetops, rosellas have a different song - a pretty metallic piping sound.
They nest in hollow branches on dead or living gum trees. Nests have also been found in holes in rotting logs lying on the ground. But the loss of old trees is now creating a shortage of homes for these birds.
How you can make your neighbourhood friendlier for eastern rosellas
If we do a few simple things locally, our gardens and parks can be a safe place for eastern rosellas and provide them with the food they need.
It’s easy. All you have to do is keep an eye out for rosellas and take a few simple steps. Step one is to find out what eastern rosellas like.
What eastern rosellas like
Eastern rosellas love:
- Native grasses and shrubs – they search the ground for fallen seeds, and eat from seed pods in low shrub.
- Native trees - they move through the treetops to gather a variety of seeds.
- Safe parks and gardens – where cats and dogs will not chase or attack them as they feed.
- Hollow branches – which provide safe and secure nesting sites, beyond the reach of predators.
Be a buddy to the eastern rosella
Try to:
- Watch for rosellas in flight or feeding on the ground.
- Keep cats and dogs away from areas in your backyard and in parks where rosellas feed during the day.
- Organise your garden over time so that there is a variety of native grasses, bushes and shrubs with seeds for the birds to feed on.
- Preserve mature trees in the area that have hollows for the birds to use for nesting.
Avoid:
- Removing seed heads, especially from native grasses if rosellas are using the area to feed.
- Tidying dead branches from trees if there is no safety risk.
- Removing fallen branches from the ground if there is no fire issue.
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