https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Blue-winged_parakeetBlue-winged parakeet - Revision history2026-07-31T01:26:41ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Blue-winged_parakeet&diff=463048&oldid=prevAdvanced Academy at 00:54, 30 September 20252025-09-30T00:54:38Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Species of bird}}<br />
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}<br />
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}<br />
{{speciesbox<br />
| image = Malabar_or_Blue-winged_parakeet_(Psittacula_columboides)_by_Shantanu_Kuveskar.jpg<br />
| image_caption = Male in Mangaon, Raigad, Maharashtra<br />
| status = LC<br />
| status_system = IUCN3.1<br />
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |year=2024 |title=''Nicopsitta columboides'' |article-number=e.T22685489A264059486 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T22685489A264059486.en}}</ref><br />
| status2 = CITES_A2 <br />
| status2_system = CITES <br />
| status2_ref = <ref>{{Cite Species+ |id=6259 |title=''Psittacula columboides'' (Vigors, 1830) |access-date=27 July 2025}}</ref><br />
| genus = Psittacula<br />
| species = columboides<br />
| authority = ([[Nicholas Aylward Vigors|Vigors]], 1830)<ref>Vigors, NA (1830) Notice on some new species of birds. Zoological Journal 5:273-275.</ref><br />
}}<br />
The '''blue-winged parakeet''' ('''''Psittacula columboides'''''), also known as the '''Malabar parakeet''', is a species of [[parakeet]] endemic to the [[Western Ghats]] of southern [[India]]. 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.<br />
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==Description==<br />
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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]] 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.<ref name=pcr>{{cite book|author1=Rasmussen PC |author2=JC Anderton |name-list-style=amp| year=2005| title=Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|publisher=Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions|place=Washington DC & Barcelona|page=220}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/faunaofbritishin03oate#page/255/mode/1up/|page=255|title=The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume 3.|author=Blanford, WT|year=1895 | publisher=Taylor and Francis|place=London}}</ref><br />
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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]]'' species<ref name=hbk/>), 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.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Foraging and breeding biology of the Malabar Parakeet Psittacula columboides in the Siruvani foothills, Tamil Nadu, India|author1=Gokula, V|author2=C Venkatraman|name-list-style=amp|year=2003|journal=Forktail|url=http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/forktail/19pdfs/Gokula-Malabar.pdf|volume=13|pages=138–139|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081011021704/http://www.orientalbirdclub.org/publications/forktail/19pdfs/Gokula-Malabar.pdf|archive-date=2008-10-11}}</ref> Individuals have been observed feeding on the leaves of ''Loranthus longiflorus''.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Apte S|title = Blue-winged Parakeet Psittacula columboides, Family Psittacidae, feeding on ''Loranthus'' leaves |year=2004 | volume = 101 | issue = 1 |page= 155| journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48568075}}</ref><br />
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The closest living relative of this species is [[Layard's parakeet]] which is endemic to Sri Lanka.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2011.09.025|title=The evolution of the Indian Ocean parrots (Psittaciformes): Extinction, adaptive radiation and eustacy|author=Kundu S.|author2=C.G. Jones|author3=R.P. Prys-Jones|author4=J.J. Groombridge |name-list-style=amp|year=2012|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=62 |issue=1|pages=296–305|pmid=22019932}}</ref><br />
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==Distribution==<br />
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<ref name=hbk>{{cite book|author1=Ali S |author2=SD Ripley |name-list-style=amp|year=1981| title =Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 3|edition=2nd| publisher=Oxford University Press|place=New Delhi|pages=185–187}}</ref> as well as the adjoining Eastern Ghats including the Biligirirangan range<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Srinivasan, U. |author2=Prashanth, N.S. |name-list-style=amp|year=2006 |title=Preferential routes of bird dispersal to the Western Ghats in India: An explanation for the avifaunal peculiarities of the Biligirirangan Hills |journal=Indian Birds |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=114–119 |url=http://www.indianbirds.in/pdfs/Preferential%20routes%20of%20bird%20dispersal%20to%20the%20Western%20Ghats%20in%20India.pdf |access-date=2011-09-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110818122536/http://indianbirds.in/pdfs/Preferential%20routes%20of%20bird%20dispersal%20to%20the%20Western%20Ghats%20in%20India.pdf |archive-date=2011-08-18 }}</ref> and possibly further east in the Kolli Hills in India.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Karthikeyan, S| title=Bird attracting trees and birds of Shevaroys and Kolli Hills |year=1996 |journal=Newsletter for Birdwatchers | volume=36| issue=3| url=https://archive.org/stream/NLBW36_3#page/n8/mode/1up|pages=49–51}}</ref><br />
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==In culture==<br />
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.<ref name=hbk/><br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[http://www.parrots.org/index.php/encyclopedia/profile/malabar_parakeet/ World Parrot Trust] Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles<br />
*{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192510/http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=514 Oriental Bird Images: ''Malabar parakeet'']}} Selected photos<br />
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{{Taxonbar|from=Q1007526}}<br />
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[[Category:Psittacula]]<br />
[[Category:Parrots of Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Endemic birds of India]]<br />
[[Category:Birds of South India]]<br />
[[Category:Birds described in 1830]]<br />
[[Category:Parakeets]]<br />
[[Category:Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN]] <!-- Psittacula columboides --></div>Advanced Academy