The austral parakeet is 28 to 36 cm (11 to 14 in) long; a specimen of a male E. f. minor weighed 155 g (5.5 oz).

Their underparts are yellowish green with a dull reddish patch on the belly; dark feather edges give a scaly appearance.

Subspecies E. f. minor is found in southern Chile from the O'Higgins Region south to Aysén and in adjoining southwestern Argentina from Neuquén Province to northwestern Santa Cruz.

[4] The austral parakeet primarily inhabits southern beech (Nothofagus) forest and woodlands dominated by oaks (Quercus) and Drimys andina.

In the north it makes elevational movements that appear to not be strictly seasonal but more in response to weather and food availability.

Its diet includes seeds of grasses, bamboo, and the "Chilean pine" Araucaria araucana, and also fruits, berries, acorns, and leaf buds.

The austral parakeet's most common call is "a nasal grating note, typically repeated in long series, e.g.