In Western Australia, the ringneck competes for nesting space with the rainbow lorikeet, an introduced species.

The B. z. zonarius and B. z. semitorquatus subspecies have a dull black head; back, rump and wings are brilliant green; throat and breast bluish-green.

[6] The Australian ringneck was first described by English naturalist George Shaw and drawn by Frederick Polydore Nodder in 1805 in their work The Naturalist's Miscellany: Or, Coloured Figures of Natural Objects; Drawn and Described Immediately From Nature.

[9] Pre-existing names for the species, derived from the Nyungar language of Southwest Australia, are dowarn [pronounced dow’awn] and doomolok [dorm’awe’lawk]; these were identified from over one hundred records of regional and orthographic variants to supplement the names already suggested by John Gilbert, Dominic Serventy and others.

[13] The classification of this species is still debated, and molecular research by Joseph and Wilke in 2006 found that the complex split genetically into two clades—one roughly correlating with B. z. barnardi and the other with the other three forms; B. z. macgillivrayi was more closely related to B. z. zonarius than to the neighbouring B. z. barnardi.

[4] The Australian ringneck is active during the day and can be found in eucalypt woodlands and eucalypt-lined watercourses.

[18] This species eats a wide range of foods that include nectar, insects, seeds, fruit, and native and introduced bulbs.

[24] The rainbow lorikeet is considered a pest species in Western Australia and is subject to eradication in the wild.

[28] The Australian ringneck can suffer from psittacine beak and feather disease, which causes a high nestling mortality rate in captivity.