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Why is there so little information about this Asian species? Granted, you don't see one in every avian enthusiast's home, but there are certainly plenty of these parrots available in the pet trade here in the United States.

The first Mustached Parakeet I had ever seen wormed her way into my heart and ended up coming home with me that very day. I was unprepared, uninformed and generally ignorant as to the background of this strange little bird. She was a green bird; very bright, crisp, beautiful green, with a black 'mask' on her face. Her beak was Halloween colored, orange and black.

Not liking to be thought of as stupid, especially by myself, I immediately tried to research this species of parrot. What a dearth of data there was! Although it was known to be an Asian species of parakeet, and one with several subspecies, aviculturists seemed to be split as to the descriptions of those subspecies.

In Joseph M. Forshaw's Parrots of the World, he lists eight subspecies, including the nominate Psittacula Alexandi Alexandri. The picture accompanying the narrative looked nothing like my little green girl. In actuality, the adult Mustached Parakeet is far removed in coloration from the immature bird. To describe Reggie, my Mustached Parakeet, as she is now, probably her most striking feature is her true salmon-colored breast. Her head, which was light gray as a fledgling, is now a subtle ashy blue. Reggie's eyes are palest gray, easily allowing one to see her eyes pinning with interest, or strong emotion. The pictures here with this article are actually pictures of my own Mustached Parakeet, Reggie.

As babies, Mustaches have orange upper mandibles, which turn black as they fledge. The male of the species will revert back to the orange upper mandible, while the female's remains black. According to Forshaw, the nominate species will have both male and female bills returning to the coral orange.

A friend of mine also has a Mustache; a male. His beak reminds one of the incredibly vibrant orange of 'candy corn.' We believe that Ozzie, the male Mustache, is of a different subspecies as his coloration is markedly different from Reggie's. Ozzie's breast coloration is straight out of a pint of raspberry sherbet. His head is more plum colored than blue, but still retains the underlying ashy or gray color.

Forshaw states that P. a. fasciata, which I believe to be Reggie's subspecies, have the deep, more salmon color of breast, which in the female, almost produces a collar as it continues up the side of the neck. This is easy to see in the picture of Reggie. Here, too, the fasciata females are said to retain the black mandibles.

As for Ozzie, my friend's male Mustache, we have yet to distinguish his subspecies because we cannot find any description of a Mustache with a plum colored head. P.a. abbotti is said to be similar to fasciata, but paler in coloration. This could be true of the raspberry sherbet breast, but does it explain the plum head?

One of the questions I hear quite often in conversations with bird lovers is the life expectancy of the Mustached Parakeet. My own bird, Reggie, was hatched in 1992. While her mother has since died, her father is believed to be at least twenty-five years of age.

Dietary requirements, as with most parrots in aviculture, are still being debated. Reggie is a wonderful eater, willing to try almost anything. She is especially fond of carrots, rice and Granny Smith apples. Reggie would gorge on safflower seed if allowed, so she is limited in the amounts of seed she is given each day. Like the rest of my flock, Reggie enjoys a cooked breakfast, which usually consists of oatmeal with fruit, or pasta and veggies, or my own grain/bean/veggie mix. I once saw a wise posting in the local bird shop which said that Mustaches, more than any other parrot, are what they eat. If you want your Mustache to grow into its beautiful adult coloration, he or she needs optimal nutrition. I believe that for all our parrots, with the exception of the specialized eaters, variety is a key to good physical and mental health.

The Mustache, like most of the Psittacula, have the right equipment of be awesome talkers. While Reggie has a vocabulary of more than twenty words and phrases, her clutchmate, Bandit, never once uttered a word. Their innate charm and playfulness more than compensate for a lack of talking ability. While I would never describe a Mustache as being a cuddly bird, they do enjoy human interaction and attention. Mustaches want to be a part of your family, not just a decorative pet. Life with a Mustache promises to be colorful, both in their appearance, and in their mischievous antics.