Psittacula cyanocephala
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 ~50% in a week ~80%
The plum-headed parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala) is a species of parakeet in the family Psittacidae. It is endemic to the Indian subcontinent and was once thought to be conspecific with the blossom-headed parakeet (P. roseata) before being elevated to a full species. Plum-headed parakeets are found in flocks, the males having a pinkish purple head and the females, a grey head. They fly swiftly with twists and turns accompanied by their distinctive calls.
In 1760 the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson included a description of the plum-headed parakeet in his Ornithologie based on a specimen collected in India. He used the French name Le perruche a teste bleu and the Latin name Psittaca cyanocephalos. Although Brisson coined Latin names, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. When in 1766 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the twelfth edition he added 240 species that had been previously described by Brisson. One of these was the plum-headed parakeet. Linnaeus included a terse description, coined the binomial name Psittacus cyanocephalus and... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bandhavgarh National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 2 | Mudumalai National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 3 | Satpura National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 4 | Jim Corbett National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 5 | Nagarhole National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Kanha National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 7 | Ranthambore National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 8 | Royal Bardia National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 9 | Chitwan National Park | 🇳🇵 Nepal | |
| 10 | Gir National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 11 | Bandipur National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 12 | Periyar National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 13 | Udawalawe National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 14 | Sinharaja Forest Reserve | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 15 | Eravikulam National Park | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 16 | Yala National Park | 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | |
| 17 | Keoladeo National Park | 🇮🇳 India |
| # | Zoo / Centre | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Disney's Animal Kingdom | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Islamabad Zoo | 🇵🇰 Pakistan | |
| 3 | Wildlife World Zoo | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Paignton Zoo | 🇬🇧 United Kingdom | |
| 5 | Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahalay | 🇮🇳 India | |
| 6 | Budapest Zoo & Botanical Garden | 🇭🇺 Hungary | |
| 7 | Paphos Zoo | 🇨🇾 Cyprus | |
| 8 | Loro Parque | 🇪🇸 Spain | |
| 9 | Adelaide Zoo | 🇦🇺 Australia | |
| 10 | Kuala Lumpur Bird Park | 🇲🇾 Malaysia | |
| 11 | Ranger Red’s Zoo & Conservation Park | 🇦🇺 Australia |
Possible
About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Plum-headed Parakeet sighting in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, based on 100 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 83rd most-seen of the 166 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 50%, and over a week to about 80%, if each day is a fresh chance.
March
In that month about 40% of wildlife watchers report a Plum-headed Parakeet in Udawalawe National Park on a given day, against about 10% in May, August and December, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Plum-headed Parakeet sightings with a recorded time, and about 9 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
13th of 17
Of the 17 parks where we can rate Plum-headed Parakeet sightings, Udawalawe National Park ranks 13th at about 20%. The best odds are in Bandhavgarh National Park (India, about 70%), Mudumalai National Park (India, about 60%) and Satpura National Park (India, about 60%). All parks ranked.
Same genus: Psittacula
The closest relatives of the Plum-headed Parakeet that you can see in Udawalawe National Park (genus Psittacula, Old World Parakeets) are Rose-ringed Parakeet (about 70%) and Alexandrine Parakeet (about 20%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Plum-headed Parakeet is recorded against all the birds logged in Udawalawe National Park (100 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
