Rose-ringed Parakeet Taking Peacock Flower Seeds

“There was an account of my encounter with a female Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri) eating seeds of Peacock Flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima var. flava) sometime in March 2010 LINK.

“Two days ago, I had another encounter in the morning with a male in the same plant. For this encounter, I have it recorded in video.

“I had three interesting observations for this occasion:

a) The parakeet only took the cotyledons (seed leaves) while the seed coats were discarded (left, circled in red; also seen in the video);

b) Walking while foraging instead of hopping movements for birds such as mynas, orioles and starlings;

c) Dexterous use of toes to hold the pod while keeping the dehiscent part (the seam that splits open) of the pod walls separated.”

Sun Chong Hong
Singapore
10th September 2011