Members of the

parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

''Psittacula'' or Afro-Asian ring-necked parrots they are commonly known in aviculture originate from Africa to South-East Asia. It is a widespread group with a clear concentration of species in south

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

, but also with representatives in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and the islands of the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...

. This is the only genus of Parrot which has the majority of its species in continental Asia. Of all the extant species only '' Psittacula calthropae'', '' Psittacula caniceps'' and ''

Psittacula echo The echo parakeet (''Psittacula eques'') is a species of parrot endemic to the Mascarene Islands of Mauritius and formerly Réunion. It is the only living native parrot of the Mascarene Islands; all others have become extinct due to human activit ...

'' do not have a representative subspecies in any part of mainland continental Asia. The

rose-ringed parakeet The rose-ringed parakeet (''Psittacula krameri''), also known as the ring-necked parakeet (more commonly known as the Indian ringneck parrot), is a medium-sized parrot in the genus Psittacula, of the family Psittacidae. It has disjunct native ran ...

, ''Psittacula krameri'', is one of the most widely distributed of all parrots. The other two Asian genera, '' Loriculus'' and '' Psittinus'' are represented by only two species each, which occur in the mainland part of Asia. The majority of the ''Loriculus'' species occur on islands. Moreover, since ''Loriculus'' is spread across both sides of the

Wallace Line The Wallace Line or Wallace's Line is a faunal boundary line drawn in 1859 by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace and named by English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley that separates the biogeographical realms of Asia and Wallacea, a trans ...

it can be considered more Australasian than Asian. These parrots mostly have green plumage, with adults having coloured heads. The bill is stout, and the tail is long and graduated.

Etymology

The genus name Psittacula is a diminutive of the Latin word psittacus meaning "parrot".

Taxonomy

The genus ''Psittacula'' was introduced in 1800 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier. The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specime ...

was designated in 1923 by

Gregory Mathews Gregory Macalister Mathews CBE FRSE FZS FLS (10 September 1876 – 27 March 1949) was an Australian-born amateur ornithologist who spent most of his later life in England. Life He was born in Biamble in New South Wales the son of Robert H. M ...

as the red-breasted parakeet. The name of the genus is a diminutive of the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

word ''psittacus'' for a "parrot". The genus includes 16 species, of which three are extinct. * † Newton's parakeet, ''Psittacula exsul'' - extinct (c.1875) * Echo parakeet, ''Psittacula eques'' ** † Réunion parrot, ''Psittacula eques eques'' - extinct mid-18th century * † Mascarene parrot, ''Psittacula bensoni'' - extinct (c.1764) (formerly classified in genus †'' Lophopsittacus'', and still considered such by some authorities) *

Rose-ringed parakeet The rose-ringed parakeet (''Psittacula krameri''), also known as the ring-necked parakeet (more commonly known as the Indian ringneck parrot), is a medium-sized parrot in the genus Psittacula, of the family Psittacidae. It has disjunct native ran ...

, ''Psittacula krameri'' *

Alexandrine parakeet The Alexandrine parakeet (''Psittacula eupatria''), also known as the Alexandrine parrot, is a medium-sized parrot in the genus Psittacula of the family Psittaculidae. It is named after Alexander the Great, who transported numerous birds from Pu ...

, ''Psittacula eupatria'' * † Seychelles parakeet, ''Psittacula wardi'' - extinct (1883) *

Plum-headed parakeet The plum-headed parakeet (''Psittacula cyanocephala'') is a parakeet in the family Psittacidae. It is endemic to the Indian Subcontinent and was once thought to be conspecific with the blossom-headed parakeet (''Psittacula roseata'') but was late ...

, ''Psittacula cyanocephala'' * Blossom-headed parakeet, ''Psittacula roseata'' * Slaty-headed parakeet, ''Psittacula himalayana'' * Grey-headed parakeet, ''Psittacula finschii'' *

Blue-winged parakeet The blue-winged parakeet, also known as the Malabar parakeet (''Psittacula columboides'') is a species of parakeet endemic to the Western Ghats of southern India. Found in small flocks, they fly rapidly in forest clearings while making screech ...

, ''Psittacula columboides'' * Layard's parakeet, ''Psittacula calthrapae'' * Lord Derby's parakeet, ''Psittacula derbiana'' * Red-breasted parakeet, ''Psittacula alexandri'' (also called moustached parrot) * Long-tailed parakeet, ''Psittacula longicauda'' * Nicobar parakeet, ''Psittacula caniceps''

Alternative taxonomy

Genetic evidence has found that the genus ''Psittacula'' is likely paraphyletic; for example, genetic analysis has supported merging short-tailed parrots of the genus '' Tanygnathus,'' '' Psittinus,'' and the extinct '' Mascarinus'' with ''Psittacula.'' A revised classification was proposed by Michael Braun and coworkers in 2019 that splits the genus ''Psittacula'' into multiple monophyletic genera in order to preserve ''Tanygnathus, Psittinus,'' and ''Mascarinus'' as distinct genera. After the proposed split, the only remaining species in ''Psittacula sensu stricto'' are ''P. derbiana'', ''P. caniceps'', and ''P. alexandri''. This is also the taxonomic system followed by the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

and BirdLife International. The list of split or monophyletic genera and species (and any of their allied species) is displayed below: * Genus ''Himalayapsitta'' **

, ''Himalayapsitta cyanocephala'' ** Grey-headed parakeet, ''Himalayapsitta finschii'' ** Slaty-headed parakeet, ''Himalayapsitta himalayana'' ** Blossom-headed parakeet, ''Himalayapsitta roseata'' * Genus ''Nicopsitta'' **

, ''Nicopsitta columboides'' ** Layard's parakeet, ''Nicopsitta calthrapae'' * Genus ''Belocercus'' ** Long-tailed parakeet, ''Belocercus longicauda'' * Genus ''Psittacula'' ** Red-breasted parakeet, ''Psittacula alexandri'' ** Lord Derby's parakeet, ''Psittacula derbiana'' ** Nicobar parakeet, ''Psittacula caniceps'' * Genus ''Palaeornis'' **

, ''Palaeornis eupatria'' ** † Seychelles parakeet, ''Palaeornis wardi'' * Genus ''Alexandrinus'' **

, ''Alexandrinus krameri'' ** † Newton's parakeet, ''Alexandrinus exsul'' ** Mauritius parakeet, ''Alexandrinus (eques) echo'' * Genus ''Tanygnathus'' ** Great-billed parrot, ''Tanygnathus megalorynchos'' ** Blue-naped parrot, ''Tanygnathus lucionensis'' ** Blue-backed parrot, ''Tanygnathus sumatranus'' ** Black-lored parrot, ''Tanygnathus gramineus'' * Genus ''Psittinus'' ** Blue-rumped parrot, ''Psittinus cyanurus'' ** Simeulue parrot, ''Psittinus abbotti'' * Genus †''Mascarinus'' **† Mascarene parrot, ''Mascarinus mascarin'' *Genus †''Lophopsittacus'' **† Mascarene grey parakeet, ''Lophopsittacus bensoni'' The extinct Mascarene grey parrot(''P. bensoni'') was not sampled in the study and has not been reclassified to ''Psittacula

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular c ...

'' by the IUCN or BirdLife, so it is still classified in '' Lophopsittacus'' under this taxonomy. The Nicobar parrot(''P. caniceps'') was also not sampled but kept in ''Psittacula'' by the authorities that incorporated this taxonomy. The study has also found that the rose-ringed and red-breasted parrots are likely paraphyletic species themselves, and thus need to be split into multiple species.

Hypothetical extinct species

The Rothschild's or intermediate parakeet ''P. intermedia'', found in northern India, was formerly considered a mystery, as only very few specimens were known. It has since been demonstrated to be a

hybrid Hybrid may refer to: Science * Hybrid (biology), an offspring resulting from cross-breeding ** Hybrid grape, grape varieties produced by cross-breeding two ''Vitis'' species ** Hybridity, the property of a hybrid plant which is a union of two dif ...

between the slaty-headed parrot ''P. himalayana'' and the plum-headed parrot ''P. cyanocephala''. The taxonomy of the Réunion parrot ''P. eques'' is also confusing. Extinct since 1770, little evidence even exists of the bird's existence. A study skin had been discovered at the Royal Museum of Scotland, explicitly referencing a book description of the Réunion birds. It is known from other descriptions, as well as illustrations of which it is unknown whether they were drawn from live or stuffed specimens. This may be the only material proof of these birds' existence. Taxonomists are unsure if the birds were a distinct species, or conspecific with the Mauritius parrot, although genetic analysis supports it being a subspecies of the Mauritius parrot.

References

External links

Psittacula World

Stamps featuring Parrots including ''Psittacula''

Images and German Descriptions
{{Taxonbar, from=Q518087 Bird genera Psittaculini Taxa named by Georges Cuvier