Animal-World > Pet Birds > Parakeets > Alexandrine Parakeet

Alexandrine Parakeets

Family: Psittacidae

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Larry is a male Alexandrine Parrot Psittacula eupatria Photo Courtesy Kristy

Joey is a female Alexandrine Parrot Photo courtesy: Kristy

   The Alexandrine Parakeet, like most of the ringnecks, is a very striking bird.

To learn more about Parakeets and their needs visit:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Parakeet

Scientific name: Psittacula eupatria

Distribution:
   The Alexandrine Parakeet is found in Ceylon, eastern Afghanistan, western Pakistan, through India to Indochina, and the Andaman Islands. They live in lowlands and wooded areas such as forests, jungle, and coastal mangroves.

Description:
   The Alexandrine Parakeet belongs in the Psittacula genus, that are known as Ringneck Parakeets. This genus has the distinguishing characteristic of a colored collar going around the head in the males, or a pronounced stripe running through the chin area.
   The Alexandrine Parakeets have a large head and bill, a sleek body and a long tapered tail. The male has a general green plumage with some grayish-blue on the cheeks and a dark purple-red patch on the wing. There is a faint black stripe from the cere to the eye, a black stripe across the lower cheek, and a wide rose-pink collar. The inner tail feathers are bluish-green with light yellow-white tips and a yellow underside. The beak is a deep red with a paler tip. Their average lifespan is 40 years.
   The female is lighter than the male. Females don't have the rose-pink collar or the black stripe across the cheek patches, and they have shorter central tail feathers. These birds grow to a length of 23" (58 cm).

Care and Feeding:
   Fresh food and water must be provided daily.
   In the wild, Alexandrine Parakeets eat a variety of seeds, fruits, nuts, blossoms, leaf buds. In addition to these foods, you can offer them vegetables and commercial pellets. They like nuts with the shells cracked, such as walnuts, pecans and almonds. They also enjoy the same nutritional foods humans eat, including cooked chicken. Cooked beans, rice, and grains are also enjoyed, but soft foods like these will spoil in about 4 hours.
See About Parakeets: Care and Feeding for more detailed information.

Housing:
   A a roomy cage is required as these are large parakeets.
See About Parakeets: Housing for more extensive housing information.

Maintenance:
   The basic cage care includes daily cleaning of the water and food dishes. Weekly you should wash all the perches and dirty toys, and the floor should be washed about every other week. A total hosing down and disinfecting of an aviary should be done yearly, replacing anything that needs to be freshened, such as old dishes, toys and perches.

Social Behaviors:
   In the wild, these birds live in small flocks during the day, and roost in very large flocks at night.

Handling/Training:
See About Parakeets: Handling and Training for detailed information.
  
Activities:
   Parakeets are very energetic birds! Besides flying, which is important for all parakeets, these birds love to chew! Be sure you provide them with lots of assorted toys and wood chews, perches and swings.

Breeding/Reproduction:
   Unlike many parakeets, the Alexandrine Parakeets do not bond with a mate for life. Each pair will need two nesting boxes to choose from with wood shavings as a bedding. Once the nest box is selected the female will lay two to four eggs. Both parents will sit on the eggs. The young leave the nest about six weeks after hatching. The males don't reach their adult plumage until the second year.
See About Parakeets: Breeding and Reproduction for more information.

Potential Problems:
   These parakeets have a loud call.
See About Parakeets: Potential Problems for more information.

Availability:
   Alexandrine Parakeets are available from time to time, usually from breeders.

Comments from people who have kept this pet:

Dear animal world, that parakeet is very sweet and pretty. I wish I could buy it. I really like it. Sincerely, Jonathan

I have a 2year old male alexandrine called Cracker. I got him from a friend who'd just had a baby and couldn't give him the time. He can be nice and can be grumpy. He won't let me or my boyfriend stroke him. He perches on our shoulders and gives us kisses. He likes looking at himself in the mirror and twirls around on the stick we use for him. He also shows us his wings when we ask him to. He's a good talker, he says about 40 words. He even does a few animal noises; a chicken, dog, and a cat. He asks us what were up to and tells us he's a good boy now! He can be quite noisy when he wants attention but we wouldn't be without him, he's great company.

Ive had my Alex now for three weeks. He's 3 months old, loves cuddles, and sleeps while I'm stroking him. He's trying very hard to talk and loves a bath. He was getting very demanding wanting me to play and hold him all the time, so we bought a young ringneck. They are getting along really well being that they are both hand raised. Having a friend has made Boof very bold and he shows off, climbing to the very top of the cage and hanging upside down. He flew from his cage onto my shoulder for the first time this evening (i think he wanted to share my dinner). He is so bright and entertaining i would recommend this parrot to anyone if they have the time to give them the attention they crave.

My Alexanderine, Tinkerbell, is the best friend anyone can have. I have had her for just over 18 months, she is approx 6 years old. I got her from an aviary. I have no idea why her previous owners would have gotten rid of her. She is very affectionate, often sits on my chest, and can be stroked continuously for hours on end. She is very very spoilt and if she doesn't get attention, can be very loud. She talks and says "Hello", "Hello Birdy", "Good Girl". She is a very loving bird, but i would recommend Alexanderines to people with a lot of time to donate to them.

My wife and I adopted a female Alexandrine a few months ago. She joined our family which included a male Blue Conure and our house general, Buddy, a grey cockatiel we've had for 20 years. We had just lost our previous house general, Joey, a grey who reached 24. Our Alexandrine, Maestro, must have been impeccably trained by her previous owner. Being given up only due to the previous owners pregnancy and new baby, we were the lucky recipients. This parakeet is without a doubt the most gentle, loveable bird we've ever owned. Docile, social, and courteous would be the three words that best describe her. She's comfortable with anyone that comes in the house and even tolerates our 4 year old grandson. And yes, even our 20 month old grandson was able to stroke her while on our hand. She simply adjusted to the situation. She's a dear. on my shoulder as I write this she just helped me finish dinner of a plate of vegetables, now preening. This bird would be a great pet, but she does require heaps of attention and love.

My Alexadrine, Jerry, is now 1 year old. He was bought by my son (11) who researched birds extensively before purchasing with his birthday money from a breeder who hand fed him from a few weeks old. Jerry has become one of the family and lives inside with us. He is just amazing and at 4 months old picked up his first word Hello. He now has an extensive vocab and also has a few tricks up his sleeves. I found that once he got his first word out it didn't take long before he started with other words. He is unbelieveably bright and is very connected to all of us. I'm sure he thinks he is human and not a bird. We are all out during the day with school and work. He has alot to entertain himself with in his cage and we leave the radio on for him during the day. We make sure he is included in everything when we are at home including meal times. I would recommend this bird to any family as they are very entertaining and give you great pleasure. (Australia-Sydney)

I have 12 Alexandrines, 8 of which are trained to do tricks, all started by my first boy Kasuku, he made it very clear he knew what I was saying. So for fun I started to train him and his buddies. This blossomed into the troup of eight clowns who love to show off and entertain folks. This we do every weekend. If you have an Alexandrine as a companion count yourself as one of the lucky people, I see lots of folks saying their Alex is agressive when in the cage, this is very normal. It is his very own piece of real estate and it belongs to only him. As long as he is sweet when out let him have that space. Hey, hey GREEN POWER to all the Alex lovers!

I removed my three Alexandrines from their nest at two weeks. The three have totally different personalities. All treated the same with am and pm, one on one, as well as group attention. They love their baths and they demand I blow dry them afterwards (this was a daily occurance while I was hand feeding to keep their soft feathers from becoming so dry and mucky). The oldest one is the least friendly, very vicious inside the cage and mellow outside. The middle one, the smartest of all, picks up words constantly at 8 months old and the other two follow its lead. Middle one is very friendly and loves to kiss. Baby is simply a heart stealer. Baby is the clown of the group, extremely passive inside and outside of the cage. Loves to kiss and ride ATVs. Baby will stop playing and run over for a smooch then continue with playing. If a trainer takes a little time with these precious little bodies, marvelous beings can arise.

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Author: Clarice Brough, CAS

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