Blue-crowned hanging parrot

The blue-crowned hanging parrot (Loriculus galgulus) is a small (length: 13 cm (5.1 in)) mainly green parrot found in forested lowlands in southern Burma and Thailand, Malaya, Singapore, and Indonesia (Sumatra, Java, Borneo).

Blue-crowned hanging parrot
Male, Singapore
Female, Singapore
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittaculidae
Genus: Loriculus
Species:
L. galgulus
Binomial name
Loriculus galgulus
Synonyms

Psittacus galgulus Linnaeus, 1758

Description

Blue-crowned hanging parrots are mostly green and the adults have black beaks. Adult males have a blue crown, red throat, red rump, and a yellow lower back. Adult females are duller than males and lack the yellow lower back, usually lack the red throat, and the blue crown is much less noticeable. The juvenile is duller than the female, and has a grey forehead and horn-coloured beak.[2]

Behaviour

Breeding

Blue-crowned hanging parrots nest in tree cavities. There are usually three eggs in a clutch. The female incubates the eggs for 20 days and the chicks leave the nest about 33 days from hatching.[2]

Feeding

Its diet usually includes flowers, buds, fruits, nuts, and seeds. They eat Southeast Asian fruit such as papaya and rambutan in the wild.

Call

It has a variety of different calls, such as the one often uttered in flight. The Blue Crowned Hanging Parrot is also excellent at imitating noises. They can produce very loud and shrill sounds.

Other

It is the only species of bird that sleeps inverted. As its plummage is mostly green in colour, it also reduces the risk of predators detecting them.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2012). "Loriculus galgulus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2012. Retrieved 26 November 2013.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  2. Alderton, David (2003). The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Caged and Aviary Birds. London, England: Hermes House. p. 214. ISBN 978-1-84309-164-6.
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