Foraging, feeding, roosting and nesting behaviour of the rose-ringed parakeet (Psittachula kameri) in the cultivations of central Punjab, Pakistan

This study, on the rose-ringed. parakeet (Psittacula krumeri borealis) was carried out from May, 1996 through June, 1998 in the agroecosystem of Central Punjab, Pakistan. It was focused on i) food, foraging and feeding habits, ii) characteristics of its roosting sites, and their importance, and the estimated number of parakeets using the roost at night, iii) the breeding habitats and breeding habits of the parakeet is Central Punjab. Foraging and feeding habits was studied with reference to guava, sunflower, peas, brassica, zizyphus, chickpea, harvested wheat, maize, dates and sweet citrus varieties. The parakeets foraged in these crops in two sessions, separated by a period of inactivity in the afternoon. The morning-forenoon sessions on the average lasted or 180 to 240 minutes. The afternoon-evening session lasted for 150 to 270 minutes. The duration of the sessions, the number of parakeets recorded in each of the crop and the time of initiation and termination of the first and second foraging sessions depended on a number of factors, namely, the parakeet preference for a food, availability of competitor food items, season, and how intensively a given crop was being protected by the watchmen. The food of the parakeet comprised flowers, fruits and seeds. Fifty-eight food items were consumed, only 18 of which were predated intensively, 13 of these were farm crops and fruits. The number of food items consumed during different seasons of the year ranged from 16 to 33; the former being for the winter and latter for the spring season. From 44 communal roosts of the parakeets, 55 species of trees were recorded. The number of parakeets spending the nights in the communal roosts varied from 100 to 10000; the average being 3350. The number of parakeets using a communal roost at night was positively correlated with the diameter of the trunk of the trees (r=0.625; p0.001) Another factor that influenced the size of the roost was the presence of tree cavities in the communal roost. Early in the morning the parakeets left the roost for foraging and feeding in flocks of varying sizes. Departure from and arrival to the roost continued almost throughout the day, except for a mid-day hiatus of varying duration. The process of departure and arrival stopped either in the late forenoon or early afternoon. The second peak of departing parakeets from the roost was recorded in mid-afternoon, after which the number of departing parakeets declined . In the meanwhile, the number of returning parakeets gradually built up and peaked late in the evening. The parakeets ceased arriving at the roost 10 to 20 minutes after sunset. A specific site within the communal roost was used as a nocturnal roost. The same, nocturnal roosts were found to be used throughout the duration of his study. The parakeets returning to the roost in the evening were in flocks of 2 to 3 individuals. Flocks of 4 to 9 birds were common. University and college campuses, parks and gardens, old cantonments anal civil lines areas, and the canal rest houses treed with old trees were the favoured breeding habitats of the parakeets. It was shown that a particular relationship between the number of cavities and the number of parakeet nests existed; and: increase of one tree,, cavity resulted in an increase of 0.214 parakeet nests (R