Behaviour and Ecology
The Plum-headed Parakeet is a gregarious and noisy species with range of raucous calls. The usual flight and contact call is tuink? repeated now and then. The flight is swift and the bird often twists and turns rapidly. It makes local movements, driven mainly by the availability of the fruit and blossoms which make up its diet. They feed on grains, fruits, the fleshy petals of flowers (Salmalia, Butea) and sometimes raid agricultural fields and orchards. The breeding season in India is mainly from December to April and July to August in Sri Lanka. Courtship includes bill rubbing and courtship feeding. It nests in holes, chiselled out by the pair, in tree trunks, and lays 4–6 white eggs. The female appears to be solely responsible for incubation and feeding. They roost communally. In captivity it can learn to mimic beeps and short whistling tunes but not human speech.
Neoaulobia psittaculae, a quill mite, has been described from the species. A species of Haemoproteus, H. handai, has been described from blood samples from the Plum-headed Parakeet.
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