Long-tailed Parakeet

Psittacula longicauda

Family: Old World Parrots · Status: Very common resident · Size: 40–42 cm · Conservation: Vulnerable

Range

Resident from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands through the Thai-Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo.

Identification

Flight feathers and overall plumage mostly green, with blue on outer greater coverts and outer secondaries. Male has long purplish-blue tail-streamers, bright red bill, reddish-pink head-sides and nape, deep green crown, and broad black malar band. Female has shorter tail-streamers, brownish bill, greenish nape, dark green malar band, and reddish-pink supercilium. Immatures resemble females but with less red on the head, indistinct malar band, and no tail-streamers.

Habitat

Forest, forest edge, secondary growth, parks and gardens.

Behaviour

Often fast-flying in small noisy flocks; well-adapted to secondary forest and forest edges near cultivated areas.