NORTHERN ROSELLA

The Northern rosella is commonly referred to as Brown's Rosella, in tribute to the man who first described the species in 1820 (Brown Kuhl). In Australia the Northern rosella is found in the very northern region from the Kimberley division of Western Australia to the Northern Territory-Queensland border. This species is also found among the larger offshore islands of this area. Northern rosellas are the smallest of the white-cheeked group of rosellas. The black and yellow coloration of this rosella is very striking and unusual, in my view it is the most beautiful of all the rosellas. This rosella is scarce in the wild and those who see it are lucky! They feed on seeds, fruit, berries, blossoms and insects.
This is the most difficult rosella to breed in captivity. Once a compatible pair is obtained they will often produce two and sometimes three clutches in a season. They have the unusual habit of breeding during the winter in the US (the Austral summer), often going to nest as early as December and as late as April. Adult birds do not usually nest until they're second year. Some aviculturists believe this species requires more protein than other rosellas and therefore offer them live mealworms. We really don't know if this is true, but we do feed our pairs a pelletized diet to insure good nutrition. Northern rosellas often produce more males than females, so females are very hard to find as singles (and will demand a higher price).