The wingspan is about 8 cm. The upper surface is chocolate brown with white spots in the forewing and a wide, white transverse band in the hindwing. There are also a row of orange, crescent-shaped spots along the outer edge of the hindwing, and in the front part of the outer edge of the forewing. The male has a faint, blue-violet metal tinge. The underside of the wings is patterned as the upper side, but the base color is orange.

Platycercus elegans, commonly knows as the crimson rosella, is an Australian native parrot of the family Psittaculidae. There are seven subspecies, three of which are actually crimson. P. elegans elegans is the nominate race of Victoria and eastern New South Wales. There are several colour forms of the Crimson Rosella. The form it is named for has mostly crimson (red) plumage and bright blue cheeks. The feathers of the back and wing coverts are black broadly edged with red. The flight feathers of the wings have broad blue edges and the tail is blue above and pale blue below and on the outer feathers. Other colour variations occur in different locations and subspecies. Conservation status is Secure in states where the various subspecies are found.

A "crackle" of cockatoos*. No doubt that's the sound they make when they're eating your house!... but crackle it is, and that's the correct collective noun for a group of cockatoos! If ever there's a book written about birds behaving badly in Australia, then cockies will be on the front cover, guaranteed! But they are gorgeous and funny and fascinating, and I love them. They are iconic and quintessentially Australian birds! Here's a spotting I made the same day in March, of a cockatoo nesting in the bush a short distance away.... https://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/17... NB: The first three photos in this set were taken in March, 2021, and the later three were taken last week, in June 2021. The grooming pair are part of a subgroup of about six birds, and they frequent the area often, sometimes going from house-to-house hoping for handouts. They form part of the larger group shown here, which represents a substantial part of the crackle, but there are still many birds that weren't present here. I could hear them off in the trees farther afield! PS: There's loads of information about the species available via the reference links.