The Layard's Parakeet (Psittacula calthropae) is a parrot which is a resident endemic breeder in Sri Lanka. 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.^[1]

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, this bird is knowns as alu girawa (ash-parrot) in Sinhala Language.^[2] This bird appears on a 50c Sri Lankan postal stamp.^[3]

References

• BirdLife International (2004). Psittacula calthropae. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
• Birds of India by Grimmett, Inskipp and Inskipp, ISBN 0-691-04910-6

Cited texts

• Forshaw, Joseph M. (2006). Parrots of the World; an Identification Guide. Illustrated by Frank Knight. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-09251-6.