Red-breasted Parakeet  Psittacula alexandri

Etymology:

• Psittacula : Latin word derived from  psittacus – Parrot
• Alexandri : Named after Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) King of Macedonia, whose conquering armies introduced eastern parakeets to Greece.

Vernacular Names:  Hindi: Madna Tota, Kajila, Gour tota, Cachar: Daobator gajao, Nepal: Imrit bhela, Mar: Lal Chaticha Popat

Distribution in India: Resident of Himalayan foothills India

Description: Size of 33–38 cm; wt. of 133–168 g. The bill is red, tipped yellow. The head is pale blue-grey with thin black line from cere to eye, black chin and lower cheeks. The underparts are pink from throat to mid-belly, then pale green. The sides of neck, nape and upperparts are green, with yellowish wash on median wing-coverts. The female has duller pink underparts. The immature has green head and underparts. Race fasciata( North and East India) has blue tinge to head, darker pink breast with light blue wash, lower mandible is blackish; abbotti ( Andaman Islands) is like race fasciata but larger and paler.

Habitat:

It is found in moist deciduous forest, secondary growth, mangroves, teak and coconut plantations, woodland adjacent cultivation and villages, in foothill and lowland areas, generally avoiding dense evergreen closed-canopy forest.

Food habits:

It eats nectar and flowers, seeds, chestnuts, fruits, leaf buds and grains.

Breeding habits: They breed in Dec–Apr in continental Asia and every month except Apr in Java. The nest is in a hollow limb or hole in tree, often with several pairs occupying adjacent trees. They lay a clutch of 3–4 eggs. The incubation period is 28 days and nestling period 50 days.