Pezoporus wallicus (Kerr, 1792)

Scientific and Common Name

Pezoporus wallicus, commonly known as the ground parrot, is a medium-sized parrot that reaches up to 30 cm in length and weighs approximately 80 grams.

General Plumage

It has a distinct appearance: its plumage is grass green, with black streaking on the head and hindneck, prominent pale-yellow wing bars, and black and yellow barring on the abdomen, thighs, and under-tail coverts.

Soft Part Features

It has pale yellow irises, a dark grey bill, and flesh-pink feet and legs.

Sexual Dimorphism

A characteristic bright red band sits above its cere, and males and females look identical.

Juvenile Features

Juveniles differ from adults: they are slightly smaller, have duller yellow-olive plumage, lack the red band, and have thicker, bolder markings on the head and breast.

Fledged Juvenile Iris

Newly fledged juveniles have dark grey-brown to brown irises.

Subspecies Distinction

The eastern subspecies P. w. wallicus and Tasmanian subspecies P. w. leachi can be distinguished from the western subspecies P. w. flaviventris by their thicker, more prominent black markings on the head, neck, and belly.

Endemic Range

This species is endemic to Australia, with each subspecies occupying its own geographically separated range.

Eastern Subspecies Distribution

The eastern ground parrot (subspecies wallicus) has fragmented populations in coastal areas of south-eastern Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria, ranging north to near Fraser (K'gari) Island and south to Portland.

Eastern Subspecies Extirpation

It was formerly found in South Australia, but is now regionally extinct there.

Eastern Subspecies Habitat

This subspecies lives mainly in dry or moist coastal heathland or sedgeland that has dense foliage cover and a high density of its preferred food plants.

Western Subspecies Distribution

The western ground parrot (subspecies flaviventris) only occurs in two disjunct populations in southern Western Australia: one in Fitzgerald River National Park, and the other in Cape Arid National Park and Nuytsland Nature Reserve.

Western Subspecies Habitat

It inhabits low, dry or swampy heathland near the coast, typically in areas that have remained unburnt for long periods of time.

Tasmanian Subspecies Population

The Tasmanian ground parrot (subspecies leachi) is endemic to Tasmania, which hosts the largest total population of the entire species; the Tasmanian population is suspected to number more than 100,000 birds.