Psittacula columboides
Silhouette: Farelli (photo), John E. McCormack, Michael G. Harvey, Brant C. Faircloth, Nicholas G. Crawford, Travis C. Glenn, Robb T. Brumfield & T. Michael Keesey · PhyloPic
In 3 days <5%
The blue-winged parakeet (Psittacula columboides), also known as the Malabar parakeet, is a species of parakeet endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India. Found in small flocks, they fly rapidly in forest clearings while making screeching calls that differ from those of other parakeet species within their distribution range. Their long blue tails tipped in yellow and the dark wings with blue contrast with the dull grey of their head and body. Adult males and females can be easily told apart from the colour of their beak.
The blue-winged parakeet is bluish grey with a long yellow-tipped tail. The black neck ring is complete in both males and females. The male has a bluish-green lower edge to the black collar and the upper mandible is red with a white tip while the female has an all black bill and has only the black collar. The female looks similar to the female of the plum-headed parakeet which however can be told apart by its broad yellow collar. Flocks move through the forest while calling out in a series of screeching keek-keek-keek calls.
They breed in the dry season after the northeast Monsoon and the chicks fledge before the southwest Monsoon in June. They... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Eravikulam National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kozhikode | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Loro Parque | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 2 | Adelaide Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 3 | Birds of Eden | 🇿🇦 South Africa | |
| 4 | CuriOdyssey | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Ostrich Farm | 🇨🇼 Curaçao |
Rare
Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Malabar Parakeet sighting in Kozhikode on a given day, based on 8 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 211th most-seen of the 229 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.
Any time of year
In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Malabar Parakeet in Kozhikode on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.
Between 3 and 6 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Malabar Parakeet sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Kozhikode, in our data
Kozhikode is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Malabar Parakeet sightings: under 5% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
Same genus: Psittacula
The closest relatives of the Malabar Parakeet that you can see in Kozhikode (genus Psittacula, Old World Parakeets) are Rose-ringed Parakeet (about 40%) and Plum-headed Parakeet (about 10%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Malabar Parakeet is recorded against all the birds logged in Kozhikode (8 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
