Blue-naped Parrot feeding on a Narra seed

This video shows the Blue-naped Parrot feeding on a seed of a native and an indigenous tree, the Narra Tree or Pterocarpus indicus forma echinatus. The Narra Tree is the national tree of the Philippines and is a large deciduous tree that is fast growing and very sturdy. It has bright yellow flowers and is now commonly seen in villages but difficult to see in the forest as it is a prized hardwood species.

Blue-naped Parrots are Philippine near-endemics that can be reliably seen in Subic in Luzon and in Puerto Princesa in Palawan. Outside the Philippines, there is a small population living in a small island near Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. They are fruit-eaters and love to feast on Macaranga sp fruits as well as other types of figs and seeds. Most of the time, you can see them in small flocks, family groups of 3-6 birds flying or feeding together in the lowland forests of Subic and Palawan. They are cavity-nesters and sometimes time-shares with other woodpeckers like the Luzon Flameback, other parrots like the uncommon Green Racquet-tail and other birds like Coleto.

This highlights the need to plant more indigenous and native trees to attract our native birds!

Blue-naped Parrot Tanygnathus lucionensis
December 2015, Subic, Zambales, Luzon, Philippines
Video by Adrian Constantino
Digiscoped with a Swarovski ATM 80 HD, Panasonic G3 with Swarovski Universal Camera Adapter