Derbyan Parakeet Psittacula derbiana Scientific name definitions

46–50 cm. Bill red above tipped yellow, black below; narrow black frontal band stretching back to eye set in light turquoise on forehead and around eye, shading to purple on rest of head except for broad black bar extending from lower mandible below ear-coverts; nape and upperparts green with ­yellowish wash on median wing-coverts ; underparts purple except for thighs and vent; tail bluish centrally, green laterally, yellowish below. Female lacks turquoise on head and has all-black bill . Immature duller, with green head.

S China (SE Tibet and NW & W Yunnan); occurrence recently confirmed in extreme NE India (NE Arunachal Pradesh) (1 Singh, A.P. (2013). Lord Derby’s Parakeet Psittacula derbiana, and Black-headed Greenfinch Carduelis ambigua in Arunachal Pradesh, India. Indian Birds 8(5): 133. Close ).

Coniferous and mixed Pinus- Quercus forests, Rhododendron alpine thickets and cultivated valleys up to 4000 m.

Summer visitor to NE India, May–Sept, but apparently resident in SE Tibet, persisting as high as 3300 m in winter.

Seeds of Pinus tabulaeformis, poplar catkins, barley and orchard fruit, notably peaches, and often destructive to ripening crops including maize.

Flight call a somewhat plaintive short nasal note, “nyah”. When perched, repertoire becomes more varied but predominantly involves nasal screeches and squawks, including a drawn-out “rrraah” which has been likened to a high-pitched crow (Corvus).

Jun in SE Tibet. Nest in hole in tree, often Populus ciliata; reportedly also in “sand nests”, presumably in high riverbanks.

Not globally threatened. CITES II. Currently considered near-­threatened. Apparently fairly common within its relatively little visited range, recorded as usually occurring in large flocks.