Lord Derby's parakeet (''Psittacula derbiana''), also known as Derbyan parakeet, is a parrot species, which is confined to a small pocket of moist evergreen forest in the hills and mountains of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n states of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares ...

and

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

, and adjoining parts of

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

and

Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the C ...

in China. The species suffers from

cutting Cutting is the separation or opening of a physical object, into two or more portions, through the application of an acutely directed force. Implements commonly used for wikt:cut, cutting are the knife and saw, or in medicine and science the scal ...

of old trees (important for nesting sites) and

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

for the illegal

wildlife trade Wildlife trade refers to the of products that are derived from non-domesticated animals or plants usually extracted from their natural environment or raised under controlled conditions. It can involve the trade of living or dead individuals, ti ...

. In 2011, its status was updated from

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

near threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

. The adult male and female are easily distinguished because they have different beak colours and slightly different plumage. The name of this bird commemorates

Edward Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby Edward Smith-Stanley, 13th Earl of Derby (21 April 1775 – 30 June 1851), KG, of Knowsley Hall in Lancashire (styled Lord Stanley from 1776 to 1832, known as Baron Stanley of Bickerstaffe from 1832-4), was a politician, peer, landowner, bui ...

. Lord Derby's parakeets feed on fruits, berries, seeds, and leaf buds, occasionally foraging in gardens and fields.

Description

Psittacula derbiana -Wilhelma Zoo, Stuttgart, Germany -pair-8a

Lord Derby's parakeets are in length and are

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

. They have a mostly green plumage over their dorsal surface (i.e. from behind), black lores and lower cheeks, a bluish-purple crown and pale yellow eyes. The throat, breast, abdomen and under-wing coverts are greyish blue to lavender. The thighs and vent area are yellowish green with blue edging on some of the feathers. The tail feathers are shades of green, some edged with blue. Male birds have a red upper mandible with a yellow tip, while the lower mandible is black. The females have an all-black beak. Immature Lord Derby's parakeets are duller in colour than the adults. Juvenile birds have green crowns, orange-red upper and lower mandible (beak), and their irises are dark and do not lighten until they reach maturity between two and three years of age.

Sexual dimorphism

Image:Psittacula derbiana-20050502.jpg, The adult male has a red upper mandible File:Psittacula derbiana -aviary -male-8a.jpg, Male File:Psittacula derbiana -Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China -male-8a.jpg, Male pet kept in China File:Derbyan parakeet (Psittacula derbiana) -female2.jpg, A female pet in Tibet. The adult female has an all black beak. File:Psittacula derbiana (female) -Beijing -captive-8.jpg, A female pet in China

Reproduction

Breeding season usually begins between April and June. The female lays a clutch of two to four eggs () in nest holes of trees. The young hatch after an incubation period of about 23 days and will fledge after 8 to 9 weeks.

References

External links

World Parrot Trust
Parrot Encyclopedia - Species Profiles

* ttp://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=516 Oriental Bird Images: ''Derbyan parakeet'' Selected photos * http://animal-world.com/encyclo/birds/parakeets/DerbyanParakeet.php# * http://home.wanadoo.nl/psittaculaworld/PsittaculaWorld.htm * https://web.archive.org/web/20070606112952/http://www.ruffledfeathersaviary.com/derbyan_photos.htm {{Taxonbar, from=Q999922 Lord Derby's parakeet Birds of Northeast India Birds of Tibet Birds of Central China Birds of Yunnan Lord Derby's parakeet Lord Derby's parakeet