Thursday, January 1, 2026

Alexandrine Parakeet - Keoladeo NP

We saw Alexandrine parakeets last December 2024 in Kaziranga NP in Assam (northeastern) India (see January 15, 2025 post). In November 2025 we visited India again and got much better views of the Alexandrine parakeet at Keoladeo NP in northern India, but much further west than Kaziranga. In Keoladeo we saw ssp. nipalensis. In Kaziranga we saw ssp. avensis. In nipalensis the back of the head and cheeks are tinged blue and males have a broader black stripe across the lower cheek. Avensis has a smaller bill and males look like nipalensis, except that the neck and underparts are more yellowish and and there is a narrow blue stripe on the hindneck. 



The Alexandrine parakeets in Keoladeo were very close to us and our views were much better.  
Illustration of ssp. eupatria from Birds of the World. This is a female. 

This and the next are illustrations of a eupatria male from Birds of the World. Note the black chin and red neck. As indicted above, niplensis has blue cheeks and back of head, is more gray and has a broader black stripe on the lower cheek.