Layard's Parakeet
Psittacula calthrapae
Bright green, long-tailed parrot, with a gray hood and conspicuous black throat. The beak is red-orange in males, but all dark in duller females. Small groups inhabit upper levels of humid forest in the Wet Zone and drier, wooded areas outside of that, in both the lowlands and hills. Combination of gray hood and black throat differentiates this from all other long-tailed parrots on the island; female Plum-headed Parakeet also has a gray hood but lacks the black throat of Layard’s Parakeet. Gregarious and noisy birds, with raucous “ak-ak-ak-ak-ak” heard often.
Identification
Layard's parakeet is a green parrot, 29 cm long including a tail up to 13 cm. The adult has a bluish-grey head and back, separated by a green collar. There is a broad black chin stripe and the tail is blue tipped yellow. The upper mandible of the male's bill is red and the lower mandible is brown.<p>The female is similar, but has an all black beak and less green on the face than the male. Immature birds are mainly green, with an orange bill.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Psittacula calthrapae
- Authority
- (Blyth, 1849)
- Order
- Psittaciformes
- Family
- Psittaculidae
- Genus
- Psittacula
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Layard's parakeet is a bird of forests, particularly at the edges and in clearings, and also gardens. It is locally common. It undergoes local movements, driven mainly by the availability of the fruit, seeds, buds and blossoms that make up its diet. It is less gregarious than some of its relatives, and is usually in small groups outside the breeding season, when it often feeds with brahminy starlings. Its flight is swift and direct, and the call is a raucous chattering. It nests in holes in large trees, laying 3–4 white eggs.
Conservation
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
African Rail
Rallus caerulescens
Classic, mid-sized rail. Note the brown back, gray head and chest, barred belly, and reddish bill and legs. Found in wetlands ranging from flooded grassland to deep swamps. Especially favors cattail marshes. Fairly reclusive but walks out into the open more often than most rails. Usually detected by call, a loud, accelerating series of notes that descend the scale. Shares a similar color pattern with African Crake, but African Rail has a longer bill and an unspotted back.
Ringed Antpipit
Corythopis torquatus
Small ground-dwelling flycatcher of lowland rainforest. Very unusual appearance for a flycatcher, looking more like a tiny thrush or an antbird as it struts around the ground with its body held upright. Likes to walk on logs and tree roots in mature rainforest, making short flights up to understory vegetation to catch insects. Dull brown above and white below with broad black breast streaks. Listen for its short song with a distinctive “up-down” pattern, a whistled “wheeu, pew.”
Gilded Flicker
Colaptes chrysoides
Large woodpecker, very similar to Northern Flicker. Overall pale sandy brown with gray face and brown crown. Spotted below with black oval on chest. Underwing and shafts of flight feathers bright yellow. Males have red mustache stripe; sexes otherwise alike. Combination of face pattern and yellow in wings helps distinguish from both "Red-shafted" and "Yellow-shafted" Northern Flickers. Shows a strong affinity for saguaro cactus but also found in nearby woodland. Gives a piercing "kleer" call similar to Northern Flicker.
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