Why the Eastern Rosella gets its name from Rose Hill, a colonial farm town
The Eastern Rosella got its name from Rose Hill, a Sydney farming settlement. The settlement was renamed Parramatta in 1791. The parrot's name followed: Rose Hillers shortened to Rozella, then Rosella.
When Sydney's colony started in 1788, Governor Phillip needed farmland. He found grassy plains where Parramatta now stands.
In 1789, settlers named it Rose Hill. A striking parrot lived there, red, green, yellow and blue.
It ate spilt grain and fallen fruit, so it became known to everyone. Settlers called the birds Rose Hillers.
In 1791, Phillip renamed the settlement Parramatta. Settlers forgot where the parrot's name came from.
Rose Hillers shortened to Rozella, then finally Rosella. The bird's scientific name, eximius, means excellent or uncommon.
Why it mattersAustralian place names are written into the everyday names of the wildlife we use today.
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