SCIENTIFIC NAME:  Psittacula alexandri fasciata

The moustached parakeet is also called the, Banded parakeet, Bearded parakeet, Rose-breasted parakeet, Pink-breasted parakeet, Indian red-breasted parakeet, and Javan Parakeet.

It’s a small slender bird in the parrot family with a blue-grey head, heavy black patches on the lower cheeks and chin and a narrow black stripe running from the eyes. The lower belly and upper parts of the bird are green with yellowish patches on upperwing covers. It also has a long tail with blue central feathers.

The moustached parakeet is typically seen in noisy flocks traveling in slow flight. It’s gregarious, usually in flocks of 6-10 birds. Forty parakeets in a group are less frequently found, and birds in the thousands are rare. Larger flocks gather where favorite foods are available. They will form communal roosts in tall trees, bamboo thickets or sugarcane. It nests in natural tree-cavities or often old woodpecker or barbet holes.