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FOOD OF THE ROSE-RINGED PARAKEETPSITTACULA KRAMERI: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY 1 HarjeetK. Saini, Manju S. Dhindsa and H.S. Toor2 (With two text-figures) Keywords: feedingecology,Psittaculakrameri,dietdiversity,food-nichebreadth GutcontentsoftheRose-ringedParakeet Psittaculakrameri(Scopoli)wereanalysedgravimetricallyduring August1988toJuly 1989inanintensivelycultivatedareaofPunjab. Cereals(45%oftotalcontents)andtree seeds(38%) werethepredominantfoodofthespecies. Amongcereals,sorghum(21%)wasthemostabundant. Guavarankedfirstamongtreeseedsforming24%oftheedietfollowedbymulberry(about 10%). Oilseeds formedabout9%andweedseedsnearly3%ofthecontents. Pearlmillet,sorghumandmaizewereconsumed insignificantproportionsduringAugusttoDecember. Guavaseedswererecordedinlargeproportionsfrom JanuarytoMarchandJulytoAugust. MulberryseedsformedthemainbulkofthefoodinAprilandMay. Weed seedsbelongingtofivetaxawererecordedfromApriltoJune,August,OctoberandFebruary. FoodoftheRose- ringedParakeetwasmorediversefromAugusttoOctoberandJanuarytoMarchthanduringrestoftheyear. Shannon-Wienerindex,equitabilityandLevins’ indexofthefood-nichebreadthwerecalculatedtobe1.02,0.80 and0.33,respectively. Introduction reported to damage sorghum (Cunningham-Van Someren 1969) and in Mauritius it isstated tobea TheRose-ringedParakeet Psittaculakrameri destructivebird pest (Benedict 1957). (Scopoli)isthemostwidespreadspeciesamongthe Despite the widespread distribution and pest parrotsoftheworld(Grzimek 1972). Distributedin statusoftheRose-ringedParakeet, littleinformation Africa, Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Nepal, isavailableon its foodand feedingbehaviour. Ali Myanmar and Sri Lanka, this species has invaded and Ripley (1983) have mentioned fruits, cereals Mauritius,ZanzibarIsland,England,U.S.A.,Saudi andseeds ofallkindsofwild andcultivatedplants Arabia, Israel and Germany through man-made as the food of this species. Although qualitative and/ornaturalintroductions(Long1981,Dvir1988, information on its food is available from Punjab Lantermann 1989, Stagg 1989). In India, Rose- (SimwatandSidhu 1973, ToorandRamzan 1974) ringed Parakeet has been rated as the number one and Andhra Pradesh (Shivanarayan 1982), there bird pest of agriculture and horticulture (Ali and has been no serious study providing quantitative Ripley 1983, Babu and Muthukrishnan 1987). In data from any part ofIndia. This paperpresents a Punjab,themostintensivelycultivatedstateofIndia, detailedquantitativedescriptionofthediet,seasonal itinflictsheavydamagetomaize,sunflower,mustard, variation in the relativeproportion ofvarious food guava,almonds,peachandsoon(RamzanandToor types and the food-nichebreadth ofthis species. 1972, 1973, Simwat and Sidhu 1973, Toor and Ramzan 1974,ToorandSandhu 1981, Sandhu and Material and Methods Dhindsa 1982, Dhindsa et al. 1992), and thus warrantscontrol. InBangladeshalso,thisspeciesis Thestudywasconductedinthefieldareaofthe consideredtobethemajorpestofmaizeandsunflower Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana (30° 56' (Sultana and Brooks 1986). In Africa, it has been N,75°52*E,c. 247mabovethem.s.l.) fromAugust 1988 to July 1989. The study area is intensively 1Accepted February 1992. cultivated with two main crop seasons: rabi 2AllIndiaCoordinatedResearchProjectonAgriculturalOrnithology, (October-NovembertoApril-May)andkharif(June- Department ofZoology,PunjabAgriculturalUniversity, Ludhiana- 141 004. August to September-October). The major kharif 1 FOOD OFTHEROSE-RINGEDPARAKEETPSITTACULA KRAMERI 97 cropsarerice,maizeandpearl millet,andrabicrops respectively(Table1). Oilseeds(mustard,sunflower arewheatandmustard. Theclimateofthestudyarea and groundnut) accounted for about 9% and weed is of semi-arid monsoon type. Generally, four seedsnearly3%ofthetotaldiet. Gram,recordedin seasons are experienced in a year: summerorpre- onlythreeof88gutsdissected,madeonly2%ofthe monsoonseason (ApriltoJune), monsoon (Julyto total contents. Unidentified vegetative matter, September), post-monsoon (October to November) consistingofcrushedleavesandseedhusks,formed andwinter(Decemberto March). about2%ofthediet. Gritwasrecordedin 14%ofthe In total, 88 birds were collected using a 0.22 guts analysed and formed 1 % ofthe total intake. airgun. Monthly sample sizes ranged from 5 to 1 Amongcereals,sorghumwasthepredominant exceptin Decemberwhenonlytwoparakeetscould foodmaking about21%ofthedietandwasrecorded be collected. Soon after collection, the birds were in 15% ofthegutsanalysed(Table 1). Pearl millet, dissected and the guts (esophagus and gizzard) maize and wheat each constituted 6-7% ofthediet openedtoextractcontents.Thecontentswerewashed and was recorded in 7-15% of the guts analysed. throughanylonsieveanddriedonblottingpapersat Rice was consumed in very low proportions and room temperature. They were then sorted and formedonly 4% ofthetotal diet. weighed on an electric balance to the nearest of Among tree seeds, those of guava were 0.001 g. Monthly summaries of the relative predominant as they alone accounted for nearly proportions by weight of various food types were 24% of the diet. Following guava were seeds of prepared. mulberry(10%)andsissoo(4%). Seedsofsirisand Three indices were used to study the food- dek were recorded in relatively very small nichebreadth(Krebs1989):Shannon-Wienerindex proportions. Weed seeds offive taxa formed only (H'), equitability (T) and Levins’index (B). These 2.8% ofthediet, ofwhich Crotalariamedicaginea indiceswerecalculated as follows: accounted formore than 2%. H' = - £ pi logpi, The values of three indices of food-niche where,piistheproportionoftheith foodtype breadth viz., Shannon-Wiener index, equitability in the diet; and Levins’ standardized index were calculated to J’= H'/H' max, be 1.02, 0.80 and 0.33,respectively. where,H'maxisthelogoftotalnumberoffood Seasonal changes in the diet: Sorghum was typesrecorded in the guts; and recorded in significant amounts in the guts of the B = IfLpi2. Rose-ringed Parakeet from August to January. Its Levins'indexwasstandardizedtoexpressiton proportion in the diet increased steadily from less ascaleof0 to 1.0 following Hurlbert (1978) as: than 10% in August to 76% in December and declinedrapidlyto 18%inJanuary(Fig.1). Relative BA=(B-l)/(n-l) proportionofpearlmilletexceededthatofanyother cereal in August (22%) and September (40%), where, BA is Levins’ standardized niche whereasin twoothermonthswhenrecorded,itonly breadth, andnisthenumberoffoodtypesrecorded. supplemented the diet. Maize constituted considerable proportion (16-23%) ofthe diet from Results SeptembertoNovember. Itwasalsorecordedinfour other monthsbutonly in small proportions (<5%). Diet Composition: Gravimetric analysis of Among the other cereals recorded in the guts of gut contents of88 Rose-ringed Parakeets revealed parakeets, rice in January (25%) and wheat in cereals and tree seeds as their predominant food March (20%) and July (51%) were predominant comprising 45% and 38% of the total contents, (Fig.l). Among oilseeds, groundnut in February — — r r ii 98 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 91 (1994) 80-i Sorghum X Oilseeds 40- ——— ———— t i i i t i i i i 40n Weed seeds (%) O b=VH=l- i i i , Weight by Abundance 80- Mulberry 60- —————— 0^-—i i i i i i Relative Other tree seeds 20-i Gram 10 Grit R R —n ————— ——— t t t t R=a- 0 ASONiDiJFMAMJi Ji ASONDJFMAMJJ i n = 7 5 Z 7 11 5 7 7 11 10 6 lO Fig. 1.SeasonalvariationsinthefoodoftheRose-ringedParakeetduringAugust 1988toJuly 1989(t=traces,i.e.<1%). Figuresbelowmonthsalong X-axisindicatesamplesizes. % FOODOFTHEROSE-RINGEDPARAKEETPSITTACULA KRAMERI 99 nn Shannon-Wiener Index Equitability Levins' Index (Std.) Fig.2.Seasonalvariationsinthreeindicesoffood-nichebreadthoftheRose-ringedParakeetduring August 1988toJuly 1989. (17%),mustardboth in February(17%)andMarch 10%ofthefood. Sirisseedswere recordedinthediet (18%), and sunflower in June (82%) formed a only in March (12%) and dek seeds only in April significantproportion ofthediet. (<1%). The occurrence of guava seeds was more Weed seedsformedconsiderableproportion(9- prevalent in the diet than any other tree seed as 28%) ofthe diet only from April to June. Seeds of these were recorded in the guts in variable Crotolariamedicagineawereabundantinthedietin proportionsthroughoutthe yearexceptinMayand AprilandMayandthoseofRumexspp.inAugustand June (Fig.1). Guava seeds dominated the diet in June. Other weed seed, recorded in very small August(58%)andalsofrom JanuarytoMarch(30- proportions(<1%),wereof Trigonellapolycerata,T. 45%). In July, this food type ranked second in foenum-graecum and Melilotus alba. Vegetative abundance after wheat. From September to matterthatcouldnotbeidentifiedrangedfrom <1 to December,guavaseedsaccountedfor10-20%ofthe 4% of the diet in six months of the study. The total food. Mulberry seeds formed the majorfood proportionofthismatter,however,wasabout 10%in ofparakeetsinAprilandMay,constituting64-75 July. Gritwas recorded in eightmonthsofthestudy ofthe total food. Among other tree seeds, those of constituting <1% of the total intake in August to sissoo formed about 16% of the diet in February, November and 2-5% in December, January, whereas,in fourothermonthstheyformedlessthan March and June. 100 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 91 (1994) SeasonalVariations in Food-NicheBreadth: Sorghum, cultivated for fodder purpose in Seasonalvariationsin thethreeindicesoffood-niche muchofPunjab,wasthesecondabundantfoodtype breadth(Fig.2)revealedthatthefoodofparakeetswas recorded in theguts. Itwasthe mostpreferredone morediversefrom AugusttoOctoberandJanuaryto among the cereals. Wheat and rice, the two major March. ThemaximumvaluesofLevins’standardized cerealcropsofPunjab,constituted only3-6%ofthe index (0.56) andequitability(0.85)wererecorded in diet. Simwat and Sidhu (1973) mentioned the March, while that of food diversity (0.73) was in presenceofsorghuminparakeetdietbutwithoutany February. Similarly, minimum values of Levins’ quantification. Shivanarayan (1982) reported rice index (0.8) and equitability (0.42) were recorded in and sorghum as themostpreferredcerealseatenby April and thatoffood diversity(0.28) in June. parakeets in Andhra Pradesh butquantitative data werelacking. Inlaboratoryexperiments,westudied Discussion preferences of captive parakeets for sorghum and twootherkharifcerealsviz. riceand maize (Saini , Basedon therelative proportionsofdifferent and Dhindsa 1993) Parakeets preferred sorghum . foodtypesrecordedin this study,guava seedswere over the other two cereals in these experiments. the predominant foodoftheRose-ringedParakeet. Sorghum, therefore, may be used as a lure or trap Interestingly, the pulp of guava fruits was not crop forreducing parakeet damage to maize. recordedinanyofthegutsanalysed,suggestingthat Guava seeds were recorded in the guts parakeets ate only the seeds. To test this, guava throughout the year except in May and June. fruitswereprovided to twocagedparakeets. These However, relatively high proportions of this food birdsconsumedonlytheseeds. Toexposeseeds,the type(>30%) occurred in thedietduringJanuary to wholepulpwascutintosmallpiecesanddiscarded. MarchandJulytoAugustwhichcoincidedwiththe The seeds were crushed with powerful bills as two main fruiting seasons ofthis crop. During this evidencedbythesoundofcrackingseedsthatcould periodripeguava fruits are abundantandprobably beheardatadistanceof3m.Guavaseedsrecovered it is easier for parakeets to extract seeds from ripe fromthegutswereverywellmasticated. In Punjab fruits. InMayandJune,however,parakeetspreferred andUttarPradesh,Rose-ringedParakeetisreported to feed on mulberry, sunflower and Crotalaria to cause 20-30% damage to guava (Ramzan and medicaginearatherthan onguavaseeds. This may Toor 1972, Singh and Kumar 1982). The Rose- bebecauseofenergyrequirementreasons;apparently ringedParakeethasoftenbeentermedafrugivorous less energy is needed to collect mulberry and birdbutourstudysuggeststhatthisspeciesdoesnot sunflower as compared to extracting seeds from feedon guavafruits buton their seeds. In case of unripeguavafruits. FromAugusttoDecemberpearl almondsalso,parakeetshavebeenreportedtobreak millet, sorghum and maize formed significant thefruittoextractandeattheirkernels,leavingthe proportionofthediet. Pearlmilletandsorghumare hullandstoneportionsattachedtotheplants(Sandhu raised as fodder crops in the study area, hence the and Dhindsa 1982). The fruits ofpeach, however, damagetotheirearheadsisoflittle concern.Maize, are damaged differently. Parakeets eat the pulp of however, suffers heavy damage (12-21%) from ripening peach fruits but do not break the seeds parakeets (Ramzan and Toor 1973, Simwat and (ToorandSandhu 1981),probablybecausetheyare Sidhu 1973).From JanuarytoJune,cerealsformed very hard. For other fruits, it remains to be seen onlysmall proportionsofthedietexceptforricein whether parakeets eat the succulent parts (as in January andwheatin March. Wheatandrice were peach)ordamagethemtoexposeandeattheirseeds notrecorded in the guts ofparakeets during April- (asinguava). Nevertheless,thefruitsaredamaged. May and October-November, respectively, the FOOD OFTHEROSE-RINGEDPARAKEETPSITTACULA KRAMERI 101 Table 1 OCCURRENCEANDRELATIVEABUNDANCEOFDIFFERENTFOODTYPESINTHEGUTCONTENTSOFTHE ROSE-RINGEDPARAKEET(N=88)FROMAUGUST1988TOJULY 1989 FoodType Occurrenceinguts Relativeabundance Frequency % (%bydryweight) Cereals Sorghum Sorghumvulgare 13 14.8 20.8 Pearlmillet Pennisetum typhoides 6 6.8 7.4 MaizeZeamays 13 14.8 6.5 WheatTriticumaestivum 11 12.5 6.4 RiceOryzasativa 7 8.0 3.6 Totalcereals 44.7 Oilseeds Mustard Brassicacampestris 9 10.2 3.8 Sunflower Helianthusannuus 2 2.3 2.9 Groundnut Arachishypogaea 1 1.1 2.4 Totaloilseeds 9.1 Pulse Gram Ciceraeriatinum 3 3.4 2.4 TreeSeeds GuavaPsidiumguajava 58 65.9 23.6 M Mulberry orusalba 17 19.3 9.9 SissooDalbergiasissoo 10 11.4 3.8 Siris Albizzialebbek 2 2.3 0.9 DekMeliaazedarach 1 1.1 <0.1 Totaltreesseeds 38.2 WeedSeeds Crotolariamedicaginea 5 5.7 2.3 Rumexspp. 2 2.3 0.4 Trigonellapolycerata 1 1.1 0.1 Melilotusalba 1 1.1 <0.1 Trigonellafoenum-graecum 1 1.1 <0.1 Totalweedseeds 2.8 UnidentifiedVegetativeMatter 21 23.9 1.7 Grit 12 13.6 1.0 ) ) 102 JOURNAL, BOMBAYNATURAL HIST. SOCIETY, Vol. 91 (1994) periodsduringwhich thesecropsin maturingstage wererecordedinonlytwogutsofparakeetsanalysed areabundantlyavailableinthefields. Thisindicated in this study and formed 3% ofthe total contents. that wheat and rice are not the preferred foods of This may be because of the small sample sizes in parakeets. In January, rice was most probably May and June. consumedfromgrainstoresbecauseitisnotavailable Thefoodofparakeetswasmorediverseduring in the fields during this month. Parakeets, along August-October and January-March than during with sparrows, doves, pigeons, mynas, etc. restoftheyear. The lowdietdiversity, equitability congregate at grain stores and rice-shelling yards andfood-nichebreadthduringNovember-December during December-March and feedon storedpaddy were probably because of the overdominance of (Sandhu and Toor 1984). sorghuminthegutcontents.Thelowvaluesofthese Oilseeds(mustard,sunflowerandgroundnut) indices in April-June resulted from the formed a considerable proportion of the diet in preponderance oftree seeds. In anotherstudy, low February, March and June. Parakeets have been diet diversity of the House Sparrow Passer reportedtocauseextensivedamage(63%)tomustard domesticus was recorded in September-October (SimwatandSidhu 1973)duringthisperiod. From and January-February owing to the predominance ApriltoJuneparakeetssubsistedon seedsofnative ofpearl milletin the formerandwheatin thelatter trees(mainlymulberry)andweedseedsofCrotolaria period (Saini and Dhindsa 1991). medicagineadespitethepresenceofmaturingwheat in the fields. Sunflower crop, which has recendy been introduced for oilseed production, matures Acknowledgements duringMay-Juneandprovidesafeastforparakeets. In spite of intensive manual scaring, this crop We wish to thank the Indian Council of suffers heavy damage from this species (Toor and AgriculturalResearch forfinancialassistance. Mr. Ramzan 1974). In smallunattendedcropsdamage Ram Parshadcollectedparakeetsforthis study,Dr. may range from 90 to 100% (unpublished data). U.S. Walia identified weed seeds, and Dr. M.S. The maturity ofthis cropand thelean-food period Saini and an anonymous referee commented on We ofparakeets are sowell matchedthatitsprotection earlierdraftsofthis manuscript. aregrateful to hasbecomeverydifficult.Sunflowerseeds,however. all ofthem. ReferENCES Ali,S.&S.D.Ripley(1983):HandbookoftheBirdsofIndiaand Grzimek, B. (1972): Animal Life Encyclopedia. Van Nostrand Pakistan,Compactedition. OxfordUniversityPress,Delhi. ReinholdCo., NewYork. 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