Bone Budgie

Melopsittacus alexes

Alexander’s Bone Budgerigar (Melopsittacus alexes) is a small brightly coloured parrot native to the jungle regions of Skull Island, with a deep red head contrasted by a mostly cyan body, although cases of green bodied phenotypes have been documented. Unlike its Australian relatives it is not a seed eater, instead the Bone Budgie has adapted to exploit the immense amount of carrion found on the island. Bone Budgies travel in huge swarms searching for food, once food is located the swarm will cover the corpse. The swarm will rotate to ensure individuals that weren’t able to find a place on the carrion at first will be able to eat. M. alexes has a beak far larger than other parakeets, this beak is used to rake decaying flesh from a body and snap bone to get the marrow, however bones too large to be broken by their beak will be lifted up into the air and dropped. During breeding season, huge swarms will gather around the Great Rift, there the budgies will make nests in holes formed out of the cliff walls. Although the Great Rift is extremely dangerous further down due to the diverse ecosystem of massive arthropods and worms that lurk in the dark, the nesting area is worth it due to the close proximity of decaying corpses of animals that fall in. Mates will take turns diving into the depths of the chasm to retrieve food for their partner and chicks, however if a mate does not return the remaining parent will no longer view the chasm below as an option and will favour flying away from the rift to search for food. Bone Budgies are among the few species on the island that have individuals truly tamed by the Island’s native people.

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Clade: Dinosauria
Clade: Saurischia
Clade: Theropoda
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittaculidae
Subfamily: Loriinae
Genus: Melopsittacus
Species: M. alexes

Dark Bone Budgie Variant: