Red and Green; the colours of Christmas

Red and green, juxtaposed, have become closely associated with Christmas, I suspect because of the widespread European use of holly foliage and berries as decorations. While there have been modern religious interpretations of its significance, its use as midwinter festive decor predates such religions. While earlier religions also apparently found mystical significance in the sprays, I think it's fair to suppose that the original attraction of holly berries as decorations was simply that there wasn't much else to use in the depths of harsh northern winters! Those debates aren't really the purview of this blog however, and as this is my last posting before Christmas I thought I'd keep it light and just celebrate some co-occurrences of these strongly contrasting colours in nature - and of course it is no coincidence that red berries appear among green leaves, which emphasise their colour.

Staying briefly with the holly theme, we'll start with some red berries in green foliage.

Sweet Pittosporum P. undulatum, Nowra, New South Wales.
A common rainforest edge tree, this gets us off to a pretty good start.

 Cyathodes petiolaris, Family Ericaceae, Mount Field NP, Tasmania.
However, lovely as the berries are, this heath is hinting at a problem for my purposes - the foliage of
very many non-rainforest Australian plants tends not to be very green...

This Quandong Santalum acuminatum, in western New South Wales, is a case in point.
Lovely glossy red berries though!

Red flowers in green foliage offers us a few more options, though shiny dark green foliage to set the flowers off is still a bit hard to find. Here are a few that meet the tougher criteria though, I reckon.

 

Correa pulchella, Coffins Bay NP, South Australia.
A South Australian endemic, widely cultivated for obvious reasons.

Mountain Grevillea G. alpina, Black Mountain NR, Canberra.
As glossy as most berries!

Running Postman Kennedia prostrata, Ulladulla, New South Wales.

Waratah Telopea speciosisssima, Budderoo NP, southern New South Wales.
Understandably the state emblem, the cone of red flowers is supported by huge red bracts to attract vertebrate pollinators.

Tar Bush Eremophila glabra, northern Flinders Ranges, South Australia.
The eremophilas - 'desert lovers' - are among my very favourite Australian plants, up there
with orchids and banksias. They thrive and bloom in the harshest situations.

Notro Embothrium coccinum, Lago Llanquihue, southern Chile.
I didn't want to be accused of excessive parochialism and this glorious South American
relative of the waratahs always delights me and reminds me of our common Gondwanan history.

Which leads me to a few other South America red-and-green glories too.

Escallonia rubra, Petrohue, near Puerto Monte, southern Chile.

Fuchsia ampliata, Yanacocha Reserve near Quito, Ecuador.
I love seeing 'garden plants' in their natural setting, and fuchsias are always exciting.

Mutisia sp., from the cloud forests of Manu NP, southern Peru.
One of about 60 showy species in this daisy genus, all from the Andes.

Chilean Mitre Flower Mitraria coccinea, family Gesneriaceae, again near Puerto Montt, Chile.
A vigorous climber of the cool Chilean rainforests, cultivated elsewhere in similarly cold wet climates.

And lastly I'm going to feature possibly my favourite flower of all - just because I can! (Even though its desert-adapted leaves don't at all meet the 'glossy green' criterion...)

Sturt's Desert Pea Swainsona formosa, near Broken Hill in arid rocky western New South Wales.
A delight to the eye at any time of year! (And one which I featured in its own post at the beginning of this year.)

But plants aren't the only organisms to feature a juxtaposition of red and green of course - quite a few birds do so with some success (from our subjective and anthropomorphic viewpoint of course, as they don't need our approbation). Unquestionably parrots are preeminent among these, but they don't have it all to themselves.

Most birds are seemingly content to sport a modest splash or two of red among the green - and after all it is an expensive affectation, as we have previously discussed (in fact that was quite a long time ago!).

Blaze-winged Parakeet Pyrrhura devillei, southern Pantanal, Brazil.
This parrot is only found in the Pantanal (in Paraguay and Boliva, as well as Brazil).
(There is nothing devilish about it by the way - it was named for 19th century French naturalist
and collector Emile Deville.)

Maroon-bellied Parakeet Pyrrhura frontalis, Trilha dos Tucanos private reserve, near Sao Paulo, Brazil.
A close relation of the previous species from the Atlantic forests of southern Brazil and neighbouring countries.

Double-eyed Fig Parrot Cyclopsitta diophthalma, Cairns, North Queensland.
A tiny short-tailed rainforest parrot (Australia's smallest in fact); in some races cheek patches sort of
resemble extra eyes. Very sort of...

Mulga Parrot Psephotellus varius male near Cue, inland central Western Australia.
A lovely little parrot from right across inland Australia, though not just in the mulga (vast woodlands
dominated by Acacia aneura.) To make sure of being noticed, it has small red splashes on both crown and belly.

Musk Lorikeet Glossopsitta concinna feeding on street trees (Western Australian Red-flowering Gum Corymbia ficifolia)
in Coles Bay, Tasmania. The red mask is very obvious and is probably at least partly for flock contact.

Red-masked Parakeets Psittacara erythrogenys squabbling over a possible nest site in busy industrial
Guayaquil in southern Ecuador. This is a species in decline, primarily because of the trade in wild-caught
birds in Ecuador and Peru for domestic and US pet markets.

Australian Ringneck Barnardius zonarius, Cocoparra NP, New South Wales.
A very discreet little red forehead.

Superb Parrot Polytelis swainsonii male, Mulligans Flat NR, north Canberra.
Again, a small red band, but very distinctive against the green (and yellow, in this case).
A threatened species which migrates from its wintering grounds in the valleys of the Gwydir
and Namoi in northern New South Wales (cotton country) to breed in the woodlands
north of Canberra. Both habitats are problematic for it (via chemicals and clearing respectively).

White-eyed Parakeet Psittacara leucophthalmus southern Pantanal, Brazil; a widespread species
whose red speckles on head and neck are somewhat arbitrarily scattered.

Red-capped Parrot Purpureicephalus spurius, Albany, Western Australia. This very colourful big parrot
is endemic to that state, and is the only member of its genus. The elongated top mandible is for hooking
out tiny seeds from the big woody fruits of Marri Corymbia calophylla.Again we see red both on the head and below (this time on flanks and vent).

Red-winged Parrot pair, near Georgetown, north central Queensland.
The male's red wings are striking, but she too displays just a splash of red there.

And perhaps it's now time to give some non-parrots some air time!

Golden-headed Quetzal Pharomachrus auriceps, Mindo Valley, north-west of Quito, Ecuador.
This is a superb member of the generally spectacular trogon family.

Masked Trogon Trogon personatus, Tandanyapa Valley, just east of Mindo.
This one was inspecting the lodge compost heap, so was not showing its red undersides to best advantage.

Red-crowned Barbet Psilopogon rafflesii, Bako NP, Sarawak.
The Asian barbets are now regarded as in a different family from both the African and South American barbets.
Just the crown is red on the mostly green bird, but it stands out.

Red-throated Bee-eater Merops bulocki, Benoué NP, central Cameroon.
A beautiful bird - as bee-eaters are! - found across most of tropical Africa.
It wears its red on its throat rather than its crown.

Some of the fruit pigeons can be pretty colourful too.

Wompoo Fruit-Dove Ptilinopus magnificus, Cairns, north Queensland.
Truly magnificent, and named for its measured bell-like guttural call. One could argue that its breast
is more purple than red, but it would be a shame not to enjoy it on that account!
This was taken in 2006, just after Cyclone Larry caused immense destruction to buildings
and rainforest in the region, and many forest birds sought refuge in Cairns, which was relatively undamaged.

Pink-necked Green Pigeon Treron vernans Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
I admit it (even the name's a giveaway) it's not very red, and the green's pretty pale too -
bit it's time for some positive discrimination after all those gorgeous parrots!

Brazilian Ruby Clytolaema rubricauda near Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Surprisingly few hummingbirds have red plumage, and even in this one (only found in Brazil)
it only catches - and flashes - the light at the right angle.

But it doesn't have to be the feathers that are red, as long as the red structure is surrounded by green. Bills can do the job pretty well too and while we're on hummingbirds...

Rufous-tailed Hummingbird Amazilia tzacatl, Mindo Valley, north-western Ecuador.
The nearly straight red bill is black-tipped.

And needless to say a couple of parrots feature here too.

Blue-naped Parrot Tanygnathus lucionensis, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.
This is part of an apparently feral population of a Philippines species
(though the Philippines are close to Sabah).

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus, Mullumbimby, northern New South Wales.
This is a lovely parrot of the tropics and subtropics of the east coast of Australia, and its bright
red bill is far from the least of its attractions.

Olive-backed Oriole Oriolus sagittatus, Nowra, New South Wales.
As well as the bill (which is redder than it appears here) the eye is also red on a green
- albeit not very bright green - face.

Finally a few birds - all parrots as it happens - where the red is a real feature, rather than just a highlight. Naturally in each case the red is contrasted with adjacent green plumage.

Red-and-Green Macaws Ara chloropterus, Blanquillo clay lick, southern Peru.
While the wings appear more blue than green, there is a definite green band between the red and blue.

Eastern Rosella Platycercus eximius, Canberra.
It might not seem a lot of red, but it dominates this gorgeous woodland bird, which regularly comes into the suburbs.

Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus moluccanus, Emerald, Queensland. An abundant east coast parrot
which is expanding its range. It has many colours, but the red breast - and bill - are standouts.

Australian King Parrot Alisterus scapularis, Canberra. This is surely one of the most strikingly dramatic
of all the red and green brigade, and is a common backyard bird in Canberra - lucky us!
As far as colours go, it's Christmas all year round when the King Parrots are about.

And with that - which I hope has brought you a smile or so - I will close this celebration of green and red and leave you to continue your preparations for, or enjoyment of, Christmas (depending on when you read this), whatever it means to you. 

I shall be back just once more this year, when I bring you my traditional review of the year by selecting just one photo taken in each month of 2018. I hope to see you then!

NEXT POSTING MONDAY 31 DECEMBER 

(And remember that you can get a reminder when the next post appears by putting your email address in the Follow by Email box in the top right of this screen.
And I'd love to receive your comments - it's easy and you don't need to sign in!)