Alexandrine Parakeet Psittacula eupatria Scientific name definitions

50–62 cm; 198–258 g. Bill red; head green shading to grey on nape and lower face; black chin and malar bar to side of neck where replaced by broad pink-red bar round hindneck; upper body yellow-green shading deeper on wings and belly; long reddish patch on lesser wing-coverts; tail green basally shading through pale blue-green to ­yellowish tip, with outer feathers green with yellowish tips. Female duller, with no black on chin or pink collar. Immature like female. Race <em>nipalensis</em> larger, purportedly with more blue than grey in head; <em>magnirostris</em> has larger bill, narrow blue band above pink collar, brighter wing-patch; avensis has yellowish neck; siamensis has yellowish green face and neck, with blue wash on nape; last three all have narrower black markings on chin and neck.

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Status unclear in India W coast (S from Bombay), where few reports, maybe escapees.
Introduced to parts of Europe (Germany, Belgium, Netherlands), Middle East (Turkey, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Iran) and C Japan.

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SUBSPECIES

Psittacula eupatria nipalensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

NE Afghanistan and Pakistan E through N India possibly to Bangladesh.

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SUBSPECIES

Psittacula eupatria eupatria Scientific name definitions

Distribution

S India and Sri Lanka.

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SUBSPECIES

Psittacula eupatria magnirostris Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Coco Is and Andaman Is.

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SUBSPECIES

Psittacula eupatria avensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

S Assam (NE India) and Myanmar.

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SUBSPECIES

Psittacula eupatria siamensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

W and N Thailand E to C and S Indochina.

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Fruits, e.g. guavas (Psidium guajava), and seeds, nectar of Salmalia, Butea and Erythrina, fleshy petals of Bassia latifolia, and young leaves of vegetables. Flocks do considerable damage in orchards and ripening cereal crops. Over 70% of food in stomachs of birds from agricultural area, W Pakistan, was from cultivated sources.

Generally loud and harsh, or piercing, and repertoire very varied. Calls include a nasal “kyah”, a piercing “keeh”, a rolling “rrrrah” or “currree”, etc. Calls usually repeated in well-spaced loose series, but also involve squabbling conversational strophes. 

Not globally threatened. Currently considere Near Threatened. CITES II. Common in Pakistan and relatively sparse in India, has declined steeply in Sri Lanka, where now rare and mainly confined to the N. However, in N Indian subcontinent and on Andamans is common, and much used locally as pet. Apparently only in modest numbers in Myanmar. In Thailand nest robbery is exterminating the population. Seemingly scarce, probably for similar reasons, in Indochina, and in 1995 absent from at least one area where formerly common.