Layard's parakeet (''Psittacula calthrapae'') is a
parrot which is a resident
endemic breeder in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. The common name of this bird commemorates the British naturalist
Edgar Leopold Layard; his first wife, Barbara Anne Calthrop, whom he married in 1845, is commemorated in the specific epithet.
Description
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.
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.
[Forshaw (2006). plate 39.]
Behaviour
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.
In culture
In
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, this bird is knowns as (ash-parrot) in
Sinhala.
This bird appears on a 50c Sri Lankan postal stamp.
Also this bird appears in 500
Sri Lankan rupee
The Sri Lankan Rupee ( si, රුපියල්, ta, ரூபாய்; Currency symbol, symbol: Re and Rs (plural) in English, රු in Sinhala, ௹ in Tamil; ISO 4217, ISO code: LKR) is the currency of Sri Lanka. It is subdivided into 100 ...
bank note (
2010 series).
References
Bibliography
* ''Birds of India'' by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp,
Cited texts
*
External links
World Parrot TrustParrot Encyclopedia – Species Profiles
Oriental Bird Images: ''Layard's parakeet''(selected photos)
{{Taxonbar, from=Q692953
Layard's parakeet
Layard's parakeet (''Psittacula calthrapae'') is a parrot which is a resident endemic (ecology), endemic breeder in Sri Lanka. The common name of this bird commemorates the British naturalist Edgar Leopold Layard; his first wife, Barbara Anne Cal ...
Birds of Sri Lanka
Endemic birds of Sri Lanka
Layard's parakeet
Layard's parakeet (''Psittacula calthrapae'') is a parrot which is a resident endemic (ecology), endemic breeder in Sri Lanka. The common name of this bird commemorates the British naturalist Edgar Leopold Layard; his first wife, Barbara Anne Cal ...
Layard's parakeet
Layard's parakeet (''Psittacula calthrapae'') is a parrot which is a resident endemic (ecology), endemic breeder in Sri Lanka. The common name of this bird commemorates the British naturalist Edgar Leopold Layard; his first wife, Barbara Anne Cal ...
Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN