Blossom-headed Parakeets
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The Blossom-headed Parakeet (Psittacula roseata) is a parrot which is a resident breeder in northeast India eastwards into Southeast Asia. It undergoes local movements, driven mainly by the availability of the fruit and blossoms which make up its diet.
The Blossom-headed Parakeet is a bird of forest and open woodland. It nests in holes in trees, laying 4-5 white eggs.
Description:
This is a green parrot, 30 cm long with a tail up to 18 cm. The male's head is pink becoming pale blue on the back of the crown, nape and cheeks. There is a narrow black neck collar and a black chin stripe. There is a red shoulder patch and the rump and tail are bluish-green, the latter tipped yellow. The upper mandible is yellow, and the lower mandible is dark. The female has a pale grey head and lacks the black neck collar and chin stripe patch. The lower mandible is pale. Immature birds have a green head and a grey chin. Both mandibles are yellowish and there is no red shoulder patch. The different head colour and the yellow tip to the tail distinguish this species from the similar Plum-headed Parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala).
The Blossom-headed Parakeet is a gregarious and noisy species with range of raucous calls. (Source: Wikipedia.org)
Identification: green; head pink, becoming violet-blue on back of crown
and nape; black cheek-stripe and narrow band to nape adjoining blue-green band; lower back and under wing-coverts green; brown-red patch to wing coverts; middle tail-feathers blue with pale yellow tips; outer tail-feathers yellow-green with pale yellow tips; upper mandible orange-yellow; lower mandible brownish-black; iris whitish-yellow; feet grey. Female with blue-grey head and yellowish collar; dark red patch to wing coverts much smaller; upper mandible pale yellowish, lower mandible whitish-grey. Immatures with greenish head and often grey tinge to chin; upper and lower mandible yellowish; both sexes attain adult female colouring at 15 months; males attain male adult plumage by 30 months. 
Length: 30 cm (12 ins)
Species: Scientific: Psittacula roseata roseata ... English: Blossom-headed Parakeet ... Dutch: Bloesemkopparkiet ... German: Rosenkopfsittich ... French: Perruche à tête rose CITES II - Endangered Species Distribution: Lower Himalayas in West Bengal, Assam to Pakistan, northern Burma
Related Websites: Lexicon of Parrots
Burmese Blossom-headed Parakeets: Species: Scientific: Psittacula roseata juneae ... English: Burmese Blossom-headed Parakeet ... Dutch: Burma Bloesemkopparkiet ... German: Birma Rosenkopfsittich ... French: Perruche à tête
rose de Junea CITES II - Endangered Species Distribution: southernmost Assam and southern Burma east across Thailand to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Description: as roseata, but plumage generally slightly paler and more yellowish; brown-red patch to wing-coverts slightly larger; middle tail-feathers very slightly paler blue; outer feathers paler yellow-green. Female and immatures as in nominate type, but plumage likewise generally more yellowish. Length: 30 cm (12 ins) Related Web Resources: Lexicon of Parrots (Please scroll down to no. 5 - click on link to view photo.)
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