The Malabar Parakeet also known as the Blue-winged Parakeet, (Psittacula columboides) is a species of parakeet

Parakeet

Parakeet is a term for any one of a large number of unrelated small to medium sized species of parrot, that generally have long tail feathers...

 endemic to the Western Ghats

Western Ghats

The Western Ghats, Western Ghauts or the Sahyādri is a mountain range along the western side of India. It runs north to south along the western edge of the Deccan Plateau, and separates the plateau from a narrow coastal plain along the Arabian Sea. The Western Ghats block rainfall to the Deccan...

 of southern India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

. Found in small flocks, they fly rapidly in forest clearings while making screeching calls that differ from those of other parakeet species within their distribution range. Their long blue tails tipped in yellow and the dark wings with blue contrast with the dull grey of their head and body. Adult males and females can be easily told apart from the colour of their beak.

Description

The Blue-winged Parakeet is bluish grey with a long yellow-tipped tail. The black neck ring is complete in both males and females. The male has a bluish-green lower edge to the black collar and the upper mandible is red with a white tip while the female has an all black bill and has only the black collar. The female looks similar to the female of the Plum-headed Parakeet

Plum-headed Parakeet

The Plum-headed Parakeet is a parakeet endemic to the Indian Subcontinent, being a resident breeder in much of the region.-Description:...

 which however can be told apart by its broad yellow collar. Flocks move through the forest while calling out in a series of screeching keek-keek-keek calls.
They breed in the dry season after the northeast Monsoon and the chicks fledge before the southwest Monsoon in June. They nest in holes in trees (often tall Mesua ferrea

Mesua ferrea

Mesua ferrea is a species in the family Calophyllaceae. The plant is named after the heaviness of its timber and cultivated in tropical climates for its form, foliage, and fragrant flowers...

species), especially old woodpecker and barbet nests. The birds begin breeding in December and eggs are laid in December and January. The usual clutch was 4 eggs which hatch after about 23 days. The female initially broods with the male bringing food and later the male takes over. The chicks fledge in about a month and leave the nest. Chicks are sometimes trapped for trade. Individuals have been observed feeding on the leaves of Loranthus longiflorus.

Distribution

This parakeet is restricted to the Western Ghats south of about 19°N (Kasa, north of Bombay) to Kerala, extending into the hills of the Palnis and Nilgiris as well as the adjoining Eastern Ghats including the Biligirirangan range and possibly further east in the Kolli Hills.

In culture

This species is sometimes traded although now illegal within India. It was known in the pet trade as the "Bababudan Parrot" and acquired a misleading reputation as a superior talker.

External links

• World Parrot Trust Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles
• Oriental Bird Images: Malabar Parakeet Selected photos