The red-breasted parakeet (''Psittacula alexandri'') is among the more widespread species of the genus and is the species which has the most geographical variations. It is easily identified by the large red patch on its breast. An alternative name is the moustached parakeet depending on subspecies. Most of the subspecies are confined to minuscule islands or a cluster of islands in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. One subspecies occurs in the

Andaman islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

, and one subspecies occurs in continental

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

and partly extending to northeastern parts of

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;;;;; ...

along the foothills of the Himalayas. Some of the island races may be threatened by the wild bird trade. The nominate race, which occurs in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

, is close to extinction. Feral populations of this species have now established themselves in cities like

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

and

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. Small numbers occur in other cities such as

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

and

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

in India.

Taxonomy

Red-breasted Parakeet Md Sharif Hossain Sourav

The red-breasted parakeet was formally described in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist

Carl Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

in the tenth edition of his ''

Systema Naturae ' (originally in Latin written ' with the ligature æ) is one of the major works of the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778) and introduced the Linnaean taxonomy. Although the system, now known as binomial nomen ...

''. He placed it with all the other parrots in the

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

'' Psittacus'' and coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''Psittacus alexandri''. The type locality is the island of

. The red-breasted parakeet is now placed in the genus '' Psittacula'' that was introduced in 1800 by the French naturalist

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier ...

. The genus name is a diminutive of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''psittacus'' for a "parrot". The specific epithet ''alexandri'' is from

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

whose soldiers introduced parakeets to Greece. Eight

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

are recognised: * ''P. a. fasciata'' ( Müller, PLS, 1776) – north India to south China and Indochina * ''P. a. abbotti'' ( Oberholser, 1919) –

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a maritime boundary between th ...

* ''P. a. cala'' (Oberholser, 1912) – Simeulue (west of north Sumatra) * ''P. a. major'' (

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, 1902) – Lasia and Babi Islands (west of north Sumatra) * ''P. a. perionca'' (Oberholser, 1912) –

Nias Nias ( id, Pulau Nias, Nias language: ''Tanö Niha'') (sometimes called Little Sumatra in English) is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, ...

(west of north Sumatra) * ''P. a. alexandri'' (Linnaeus, 1758) –

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

and south Borneo * ''P. a. dammermani''

Chasen ChaSen is a morphological parser for the Japanese language. This tool for analyzing morphemes was developed at the Matsumoto laboratory, Nara Institute of Science and Technology. See also * MeCab MeCab is an open-source text segmentation lib ...

& Kloss, 1932 –

Karimunjawa Islands Karimunjawa Islands or Karimunjava Islands ( id, Kepulauan Karimunjawa) is an archipelago of 27 islands in the Java Sea, Indonesia, approximately 80 kilometres northwest of Jepara. They have a total land area of 71.2 km2. The main island is ...

(north of central Java) * ''P. a. kangeanensis'' Hoogerwerf, 1962 –

Kangean Islands The Kangean Islands or simply Kangean (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Kangean'') is a collective name referred to the area of Kangean Island, Kangean (the main island) and its surrounding islands lie in the north of Bali Isla ...

(north of Bali)

References

External links

Oriental Bird Images: ''Red-breasted Parakeet''
(selected photos) {{Taxonbar, from=Q682379

red-breasted parakeet The red-breasted parakeet (''Psittacula alexandri'') is among the more widespread species of the genus and is the species which has the most geographical variations. It is easily identified by the large red patch on its breast. An alternative nam ...

Birds of the Andaman Islands Birds of Bangladesh Birds of Hainan Birds of Northeast India Birds of Southeast Asia Birds of Yunnan