Brightening the Gardens

I photographed this Crimson Rosella today in the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra. This one was feeding in tree ferns (Dicksonia antarctica). When disturbed, it flew into a nearby lichen-encrusted tree, carrying with it a piece of tree fern frond which it is holding in its right claw. Rosellas eat seeds and fruit from many plants, and in the Gardens are very fond of tree fern spores that grow on the underside of the fronds. At times, the tree ferns are nearly stripped of fronds by feeding rosellas.