Alexandrine Parakeet (Psittacula eupatria)

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 (blamed) 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.

IMG_3712a IMG_3650a IMG_3645a IMG_3628a IMG_3626a IMG_3609aThe Alexandrine Parakeet is the largest species of all Parakeet (small Parrot with long tail) species, thus often being the largest Parrot in their native range. This species measures 58 cm (23 in) in total length with a wing length averaging 18.9–21.5 cm (7.5–8.5 in) and a tail length of 21.5–35.5 cm (8.5–14.0 in).

The following sub-species, many of them allopatric are recognised based on geographical distribution:

  • Psittacula eupatria eupatria, Nominate Alexandrine Parakeet – 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

Of these, I have seen the nominate and the Nepalese subspecies.

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Because they have such a large range, you can plan birding trips to Central and South-east Asia and have a good chance to spot them.  I have seen them in Chitwan National Park, Nepal & Kithulgala & Sinharaja in Sri Lanka.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT

Wikipedia

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

VIDEO

It’s surprisingly hard to find videos of these parrots on Youtube as they are so popular as pets.  At least I found one from Sri Lanka!

Plum-headed Parakeet (Psittacula cyanocephala)

The Plum-headed Parakeet is a bird of forest and open woodland. They are found from the foothills of the Himalayas south to Sri Lanka. They are not found in the dry regions of western India.

Thattekad Plumhead Thattekad Plumhead2

The photos above were taken in Thattekad Bird Sanctuary in Kerala, India.  It’s very easy to get to India using airline miles.  I have details in my blog post about “Getting to Central Asia using Miles“.  You can also see them in Nepal in the Chitwan National Park by flying into Kathmandu.

Plumheaded Parakeet Range with red dots on Chitwan National Park and Thattekad Bird Sanctuary

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LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS PARROT

World Parrot Trust

Birdlife

Wikipedia

VIDEO

 

 

 

Getting To Central Asia With Frequent Flyer Miles

Out of the countries classified as “Central Asia”, the ones that offer the best birding are India, Sri Lanka and Nepal.  This is one area you have to carefully check how your airline’s program defines Central Asia, sometimes Sri Lanka is put into South-East Asia.   If you are married to or involved with a non-birding partner, this is a great region to plan a trip to as they will find plenty to do while you are off chasing birds.   Unfortunately, being so far from everywhere it can be very expensive to get there whether you use miles or cash.  Let’s look at a few options using the top 8 frequent flyer programs for eco-tourists.

Central Asia Map

 

ONE WORLD ALLIANCE

 

AMERICAN AADVANTAGE

For most people, joining American Airline’s AAdvantage will be the best option.  They have quite a few credit card options to quickly build your miles stash and a few partners such as E-Rewards and various hotels where you can transfer points in.  The region is called “Indian Subcontinent and Middle East” on this chart and includes Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Maldives, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan.

Please note that Sri Lanka is in South-East Asia for award purposes so you would do better to use Avios for routes between India and Sri Lanka.

Airlines which serve this area include British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas with Malaysian Airlines, Sri Lankan Airlines and Qatar Airways joining very soon.

Peru Award2

These figures are one-way so double if you want a round trip.  The nice thing about AAdvantage is the flexibility, you may choose to go one way in economy and one way in business, or do an open jaw where you fly into Kathmandu (KTM)  for example and out of Mumbai (BOM).

USA and Canada:  Each way is 45,000 economy;  67,500 business; 90,000 first.  You can use British Airways, Air Berlin, Finnair, Iberia and Etihad but there are no stopovers allowed.

UK and Europe:  Each way is 20,000 economy; 30,000 business; 40,000 first.  You can use British Airways, Etihad or (coming soon)  SriLankan Airlines; or use Finnair, Air Berlin or Iberia to get to Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong or anywhere Qantas flies.

Australia and New Zealand:  Each way is 30,000 economy; 45,000 business; 60,000 first.  You can use Qantas, Cathay Pacific and Malaysian.

QANTAS

For Aussies who have easy access to Qantas points via their employer or Everyday Rewards, it’s worth checking out QF’s awards to Central Asia.  Use their points calculator as the awards are distance based, not by country.   The awards look expensive compared to AA, UA and US but if you got your points for free, might as well enjoy them!  Here is an example of what you could expect from one way in economy from Sydney to Mumbai.

AVIOS (BRITISH AIRWAYS AND IBERIA)

Later this year, Sri Lankan Airlines will  join One World, which opens up bargain redemptions for local short routes.  In the examples below, the awards will range from 4500 Avios to 10,000 Avios.  Compare the distance traveled with the screenshot of the Avios distance chart below.

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AVIOS AWARD CHART

 

 

STAR ALLIANCE AIRLINES

 

No matter where you live, the two best programs to use in Star Alliance are United and US Airways.  Both have their pros and cons.  With United, you can book partner awards online, book one-way awards and get lots of miles via several Chase credit cards; but if you can’t get these cards it can be hard to get miles in United Mileage Plus.  With US Airways, the major drawbacks are you have to book round-trips and you can’t book online, you have to call them.   The advantage with US Airways is that they offer frequent “Buy miles, get 100% bonus free” promos and in the past, they had the wonderful Grand Slam promos where it was possible to do partner transactions and with careful planning you could get about 120,000 miles for $400-600 incremental cost.  The US Airways Grand Slam hasn’t been seen since Sept-Nov 2011, unfortunately they didn’t do it in 2012.  Depending on where you live, Avianca/Taca Lifemiles could be useful too, but it is hard to use their booking engine for complicated routings so I suggest saving them for USA-Central/South America where they offer better value and ease of booking.

US Airways Chart

US AIRWAYS (round-trip only) Region is South & Central Asia which includes Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, Chagos, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

USA and Canada:  Economy 80,000; Business 120,000; First 160,000.  You can use United, Air Canada, Air New Zealand (hard to get) or sometimes take the “scenic route” via Asia using Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Asiana or ANA (All Nippon Airlines).  US has recently started enforcing MPM (maximum permitted miles) so some Asian routings may not be acceptable.

UK and Europe:  Economy 70,000, Business 90,000; First 110,000.  Most people try to get routings using Singapore, Thai, Lufthansa, Swiss and Turkish Airlines.  Some airlines do not give US Airways business or first class awards such as Singapore, Lufthansa and Swiss.

Australia and New Zealand:  Economy 70,000, Business 90,000; First 120,000.  You can fly on Singapore, Thai and Air New Zealand.

 

UNITED AIRLINES (can book one-way or round trip.

The award chart is too big to copy paste here so please follow this link to see the whole chart.

USA and Canada:  (each way) Economy 40,000; Business 60,000; First 80,000.  You can use United, Air Canada, Lufthansa, Turkish, LOT, Egypt Air or sometimes take the “scenic route” via Asia using Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways, Asiana or ANA (All Nippon Airlines).  You can easily see the routings via their online award booking engine.

UK and Europe:  (each way) Economy 30,000, Business 50,000; First 60,000.  Most people try to get routings using Singapore, Thai, Lufthansa, Swiss and Turkish Airlines.  You can easily see the routings on their online award booking engine but be careful if you are looking at business or first class awards as sometimes they offer mixed class awards and the long-haul section could be in economy with a short sector in business or first.

Australia and New Zealand:  Economy 30,000, Business 45,000; First 60,000.  You can fly on Singapore, Thai and Air New Zealand.

Here’s an example of London to Mumbai, as you can see they quote both the miles and taxes and the business class award are “mixed class” and if you hover over the fare, you can see which flight is in which class.

LHR – BOM

You can see how much cheaper it is to fly from Brussels due to the very high UK departure taxes.

 

These are just a few examples, please feel free to ask questions in the comments.

If you need ideas on how to acquire frequent flyer miles, please see the Resources tab and Miles and Points tab. which I will update with new offers for free or cheap miles.

LIST OF PARROTS IN CENTRAL ASIAN COUNTRIES

INDIA

NEPAL

SRI LANKA

List Of Parrots In Nepal

Alexandrine Parakeet – Psittacula eupatria

Rose-ringed Parakeet – Psittacula krameri

Slaty-headed Parakeet – Psittacula himalayana

Gray-headed Parakeet – Psittacula finschii

Plum-headed Parakeet – Psittacula cyanocephala

Blossom-headed Parakeet-  Psittacula roseata

Red-breasted Parakeet – Psittacula alexandri

Vernal Hanging-Parrot – Loriculus vernalis