Description
Adults of both sexes are about 43 cm (17 in) in length, including the long broad tail. The adult male has a red head, breast, and lower undersides, with a blue band on the back of the neck between the red above and green on the back, the wings are green and each has a pale green shoulder band, the tail is green, and the rump is blue. The male has a reddish-orange upper mandible with a black tip, a black lower mandible with an orange base, and yellow irises. The plumage of the female is much different to the male having a green head and breast, a grey beak, and the pale shoulder band is small or absent. Juveniles of both sexes have brown irises and a yellowish beak, and otherwise resemble the female.
There are two subspecies; A. s. minor is found at the northern limit of the species range and is similar in appearance to the nominate subspecies but smaller, typically about 5 cm (2 in) smaller in length.
On those rare individuals which have areas without melanin, feathers are orange to yellow. Such a bird can look startingly different to the more common scarlet and green variety (see example in gallery below).
Read more about this topic: Australian King Parrot
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—Paul Tillich (1886–1965)