First described by Australian ornithologist Edward Pierson Ramsay in 1879,[2] the Papuan king parrot is one of three species known as king parrots found in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and West Papua/Indonesia.

The three subspecies of the Papuan king parrot all show sexual dimorphism and in all three subspecies the male can be identified by a prominent broad pale-green band on each wing (resembling a shoulder stripe).

In the male of A. c. chloropterus the blue extents upwards from the back to the hind neck.

The female of subspecies A. c. moszkowskii has a red head, neck, chest, and lower abdomen resembling the male, and differs from the male with its much smaller pale-green wing band.

[3] Found on in central and eastern New Guinea east of the Weyland Mountains, it lives in forests up to an altitude of 2600 m.[3] Birds are encountered in ones or twos, or in small flocks up to 10 birds.