Alexandrine Parakeet
The Alexandrine Parakeet or Alexandrian Parrot (Psittacula eupatria) is a member of the psittaciformes order and of the Psittaculidae family. The species is named after Alexander the Great, who is credited with the exporting of numerous specimens of this bird from Punjab into various European and Mediterranean countries and regions, where they were considered prized possessions for the nobles and royalty.
The species name eupatria has its origins from Latin and/or could be a Greco-Latin combination. Where the prefix eu translates into good or noble and the suffix patria is a Latin word translating into fatherland or ancestry. Consequently, the scientific name means of noble fatherland or of noble ancestry.
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| Alexandrine Parakeet |
image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kclama/
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| Alexandrine Parakeet |
image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kclama/
Sub-species with distribution
The following sub-species, many of them allopatric are recognised based on geographical distribution:
- Psittacula eupatria eupatria, Alexandrine Parakeet (nominate race) - East India to Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh in the South, Sri Lanka.
- Psittacula eupatria avensis, Indo-Burmese Alexandrine Parakeet - Northeast India to Amherst in Myanmar
- Psittacula eupatria magnirostris, Andaman Islands' Alexandrine Parakeet - Andaman Islands
- Psittacula eupatria nipalensis, Nepalese Alexandrine Parakeet - Eastern Afghanistan, Pakistan, North and central India, Nepal, Bhutan to Assam in Northeast India.
- Psittacula eupatria siamensis, Laos' or Siamese Alexandrine Parakeet - Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, north and east Thailand
