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. One subspecies occurs in the Andaman islands, and one subspecies occurs in continental Southeast Asia and partly extending to northeastern parts of South Asia 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, is close to extinction.
Feral populations of this species have now established themselves in cities like Mumbai and small numbers occur in other cities such as Chennai and Bangalore in India.
This species has been uplisted from Least Concern on the basis of new information about its population trend. It is listed as Near Threatened because it is suspected to be undergoing a moderately rapid population decline owing to on-going trapping pressure, persecution and habitat loss.
This species uses a variety of forest and wooded habitats, including human-altered areas, usually below 2,000 m (Juniper and Parr 1998). Habitats utilised by the species include dry forest, moist deciduous secondary forest, mangroves, cultivated areas with trees and human settlements. Its diet includes wild and cultivated fruits, berries, flowers, nectar, nuts and seeds, leaves and cereals such as rice and maize, thus it frequently causes damage to crops. It nests in tree cavities and lays a clutch of 2-4 eggs. Breeding generally takes place from December to April, although almost year-round on Java (Juniper and Parr 1998). In Nepal, the species is regarded to be easiest parakeet to catch for the pet-trade because of its flocking behaviour and relatively sluggish nature (C. Inskipp and H. S. Baral. in litt. 2016).
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