Breeding Notes on the Plumhead Parakeet

Abstract

Introduction

Although specializing in cockatiels for close to 15 years, I have always maintained a variety of other parrots in my collection. One such species is the Plumhead Parakeet whose exceptional grace and charm has always held a special fascination for me. Vastly overlooked, these gems of the avian world are, to my mind, a most profound statement in elegance and beauty.

It was my unexpected good fortune in early 1976 to acquire an adult hen which was rescued from a cramped cage which it shared with a peachface lovebird in a local petshop. Realizing hens were difficult to acquire, I immediately purchased the bird. Although imported males were to be found, it proved quite difficult at the time to secure a domestic-bred male in the Northeast. For several years, the hen lived quite contentedly in a ten-foot long walk-in flight with cockatiels. After a time, I gave up on the hope of purchasing a domestically bred male with a known history and finally secured an imported male, background unknown.

The pair succeeded in raising young and I have attempted to document their breeding activities and requirements from notes kept earlier. As little attention is given the species in print, I thought I would share these notes which are first prefaced by a brief statement of the Plumhead's origin and a complete description of the parrot's physical appearance.

Distribution

The Plumhead Parakeet (Psittacula cyanocepbata) originates from India and is one of the more familiar members of the genus Psittacula. According to Forshaw, their distribution includes "Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Rameswaram Island, and most of India, east of about Rawalpindi in West Pakistan, and Nepal east to Bhutan and West Bengal'.'

Description

Plumhead Parakeets may frequently be confused with the Blossomhead Parakeet (Psittacula roseata) which some authors recognize as a separate species according to subtle differences in coloration.

The adult male Plumhead is a soft shade of green, being a bright greenish-yellow on the underparts and darker on the rump and through the flight feathers. They measure 12 inches in length including a long, slender tail of about seven inches. The long central tail feathers are blue broadly tipped with white, while the lateral tail feathers are yellow-green, tipped with yellow. Males develop the deep red-plum head which is brighter across the forehead becoming bluish-purple on the hindcrown, nape and the lower cheeks. Some authors state that the bluish-purple is caused by a blue color blended with rose-red which extends beyond the black neck ring and mandibular stripe. Upon close inspection, however, this extended collar appears more of a sea-green than it does blue in the specimens I have worked with. A dark, red-plum band matching the head color cuts diagonally across the wing coverts. The upper mandible of the beak is orange-yellow with darker pigment coloring the lower mandible brownish-black. Feet are grey and the eyes are pigmented dark with a yellowish-white iris.

Adult hens and immature young appear as their male counterparts with the following differences: a more subdued lavender-grey replaces the bright red-plum color on the head. The upper mandible is pale yellow and the lower mandible...