The Alexandrine parakeet (Psittacula eupatria), also known as the Alexandrine parrot, is a medium-sized parrot in the genus Psittacula of the family Psittaculidae, native to South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is named after Alexander the Great, who transported numerous birds from Punjab to various European and Mediterranean countries and regions, where they were prized by the royalty, nobility and warlords.
The Alexandrine parakeet has established feral populations in Turkey,
Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Iran, Pakistan, Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium where it lives alongside feral populations of its close relative, the rose-ringed parakeet (Psittacula krameri).
Taxonomy and etymology
The Alexandrine parakeet was first described by French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson as Psittaca Ginginiana or "La Perruche de Gingi" (The Gingi's Parakeet) in 1760; after the town of Gingee in southeastern India, which was a French outpost then. The birds may, however, merely have been held in captivity there. Carl Linnaeus redescribed the Alexandrine parakeet in 1766 as Psittacus eupatria.
The genus name Psittacula is a diminutive of the Latin word psittacus meaning "parrot", and the specific name eupatria () is derived from the ancient Greek eu- meaning "well" and patriá meaning "descent".
In 2019, a genetic study revived the genus Palaeornis, formerly viewed as a synonym of the current genus Psittacula. Some organisations – including the IUCN – have accepted the new taxonomy.
Description
The Alexandrine parakeet is one of the largest parakeets, measuring from the top of the head to the tip of the tail and weighing . The tail measures . It is predominantly green with a light blue-grey sheen on the cheeks and nape (back of the neck), yellow-green abdomen, red patch on the shoulders and massive red beak with yellow tips. The upper-side of the tail passes from green at the top to blue further down, and is yellow at the tip. The underside of the tail is yellow.
Adults are sexually dimorphic. Adult males have a black stripe across their lower cheeks and a pink band on their nape. Adult females lack both a black cheek stripe and a pink nape band. The young are similar in appearance to adult females but have shorter tails.
Subspecies
Five subspecies of the Alexandrine parakeet are currently recognized
Breeding
Alexandrine parakeets breed from November to April in their native range. They usually nest in tree hollows, but sometimes use tree holes excavated by themselves or cracks in buildings. Females lay 2 to 4 white, blunt oval-shaped eggs, measuring . The average incubation period is 24 days. The chicks fledge at about 7 weeks of age, and are dependent on their parents until 3 to 4 months of age.
Color variants including lutino, albino, and blue are well-established in captivity.
The World Parrot Trust recommends that captive Alexandrine parrots be kept in a metal or welded mesh enclosure of minimum length .
Conservation
The Alexandrine parakeet is listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) because of its steep population decline in its native range due to habitat loss, persecution and excessive capture to cater to the demands of the illegal wildlife trade. It is sporadic in South India, uncommon in Bangladesh, and declining in North Bengal and certain parts of Sri Lanka. It has suffered the greatest population declines in the Sindh and Punjab provinces of Pakistan, Laos, northwestern and southwestern Cambodia, and Thailand.Alexandrine parakeet in [[Mysore|thumb|288x288px]]The sale of Alexandrine parakeets is not banned in Pakistan, and they can be found being openly sold in the markets of Lahore and Rawalpindi. Their sale is banned in India, and yet they are sold in broad daylight in urban bird markets, suggesting that the Indian government is allocating insufficient resources for their protection.