Layard’s Parakeet
Scientific Name – psittacula calthropae
Common Name – Alu Girawa
The name of this endemic breeder commemorates the British naturalist Edgar Leopold Layard. It is also referred to as the Sri Lanka Emerald Collared Parakeet. It too belongs to the order Psittaciaformes and the family Psittaciadae. Its color is mainly green and it measures up to at least 29 cm long including a tail of 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 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.
Layard's Parakeet is a bird of forests, particularly at the edges and in clearings, and also gardens. It is locally common and 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 distinctive as it’s a raucous chattering. It nests in holes in large trees, laying 3–4 white eggs. It appears on the 50 cents postal stamp and the new 500 rupee note. It is listed by the IUCN under Least Concerned.
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