The blossom-headed parakeet (Psittacula roseata) is a parrot in the family Psittaculidae.
The species is divided into two subspecies:[2][3]
This species is a resident breeder in Eastern Bangladesh, Bhutan, Northeast India and Nepal, eastwards into South-east Asia (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam) and also China.[1] Blossom-headed parakeet inhabits lowland and foothill open forests and forest edges. [4]
Psittacula roseata is a lime-green parrot,[4] 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[4] 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.[5] The different head colour and the yellow tip to the tail distinguish this species from the similar plum-headed parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala).
Blossom-headed parakeet nests in holes in trees, laying 4-5 white eggs. It undergoes local movements, driven mainly by the availability of the fruit and blossoms which make up its diet. It is a gregarious and noisy species with range of raucous calls. [6]
The blossom-headed parakeet (Psittacula roseata) is a parrot in the family Psittaculidae.