Red-cheeked Parrots occur through many of the islands of Indonesia and in most of Papua/New Guinea but in Australia they are restricted to a small area of lush rainforest on the east coast of Cape York Peninsula in the vicinity of Iron Range.

Much of the time they feed fairly silently on rainforest fruits and flowers in the outer canopy so they are quite difficult to observe during the day but you can be lucky and find them feeding lower down on fruiting shrubs around the edges of the forest and they have been known to visit gardens in the Lockhart River community at certain times. They are also known to visit flowering mangroves.

Red-cheeked Parrots are seen mainly in pairs or small groups may gather at food sources. They call when travelling to and from from roosts and in the breeding season can be noisy around nest sites.