Elegant Parrot

Neophema elegans

John Gould was the first to describe the species, in 1837.

Neophema combines the Greek neos (new or different) and euphema, a generic name no longer in use, derived from the Greek euphemos (auspicious or laudatory); elegans is Latin and means elegant or fine.

John and Elizabeth Gould, Euphema elegans (Elegant Grass-Parrakeet) 1848
(adult male, top; adult female, bottom)

Author’s note: This illustration is the first published of the species.

Neophemas are grass parrots—small parrots with a fast, darting flight that feed on or near the ground on grass seeds and/or seeds, fruits and flowers of other low-lying vegetation such as sedges.