Wild Parakeets in the UK

[Rebel]

Last year we had a thread about parakeet sightings in the UK.

I said that I hadn't seen them in my area, well I have now. I took this picture a couple of days ago.

Looks like a breeding pair of Ringneck or Alexandrian Parakeets.

Seems they've moved in next to my allotment. I can't say I'm all that thrilled although they are pretty.

I wonder if the law protects them in the same way as local birds or if they are considered as pests like feral pigeons and crows.

In their own country they are a pest raiding fruit trees, vegetables and seeds. I imagine they do the same here. I heard that they take over starlings nests and have caused a decrease in this native species.

Here's a link to a BBC report about the birds.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/3869815.stm

Anybody else got any opinions or knowledge about these birds?

 

[JonnyP]

Well done on getting a shot, I havent seen the parakeets in years. They are fun to watch...Are they pinching stuff off the allotment Rebel...
re info...They were introduced in the 60s from India and the numbers are ever increasing.....Someone also told me, its the fault of the old film, Death on the Nile, that they are here.....A lot of the film was made on the thames (suposedly) and to make it look more like the nile, they released a load of these parakeets during filming........Maybe true, but probably not, good story though...

 

[Rebel]

It's too early to say if they are pinching stuff off the allotment (they weren't around last year) because there's not much growing at the moment.

Everybody will be planting seeds this month or next, then it will be strawberry season. Of course the native birds like to eat fruits and seeds too but I'm used to them, I know how to keep them away and I don't mind losing a bit of my crop to them.

I imagine that parrots are a bit tougher and harder to keep away. I did live in the tropics but I didn't do much growing there. I had a few fruit trees but never had any problem with parrots, but plenty with thieving humans.

It's easy to know when they are around as they have a very distinctive and loud call. That's how I spotted them in the first place.

I got good pictures of them because I knew exactly where they would be and came prepared with a 300mm lens.

 

[JonnyP]

It's too early to say if they are pinching stuff off the allotment (they weren't around last year) because there's not much growing at the moment.

Everybody will be planting seeds this month or next, then it will be strawberry season. Of course the native birds like to eat fruits and seeds too but I'm used to them, I know how to keep them away and I don't mind losing a bit of my crop to them.

I imagine that parrots are a bit tougher and harder to keep away. I did live in the tropics but I didn't do much growing there. I had a few fruit trees but never had any problem with parrots, but plenty with thieving humans.

It's easy to know when they are around as they have a very distinctive and loud call. That's how I spotted them in the first place.

I got good pictures of them because I knew exactly where they would be and came prepared with a 300mm lens.

Yeah, there is no mistaking the call...I remember when I first heard it, I was working (on my own) on a roof in Hersham, heard the sound, looked up and saw 2 parrots....All the lads at tea break didnt believe me and I got ribbed about it, but next day, one of the other guys was on the roof with me, and we both saw them...Most I saw was 11 at the same time fly past.. I found out that there is a big communal roost at Esher rugby club....
I once saw a few of them attacking a heron too, bit like the crows do, so they are territorial too....

 

[Butchd]

Loads of down on the Thames yes, and they are most common around Shepperton, so a ring of truth to the tale even if unlikely. I've seen them in Richmond and in Chertsey, and once near Woking, so they are gradually spreading.

 

[swyn]

I was taken to Wraysbury near Slough by a friend some time ago and was surprised at the damage to parkland trees there caused by these parakeets. All the branches ended at a diameter roughly similar to ones thumb.
I saw a pair last year in Marlow, and would not be surprised if they have followed the Thames up to Reading either.
Swyn.

 

[GordonEndersby]

We have some in the Croydon area. The local park ranger for the woods behind us says the main problem is they are taking over nesting sites from woodpeckers around here.

 

[KrisH]

Hundreds of the things down by Heathrow...

 

[Jodie]

There are a few of them in Greenwich Park and in Maryon Wilson Park
(Charlton / Blackheath).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose-ringed_Parakeet

I'm not sure if they're the same as the ones in your lovely photo - I've not
heard of the Alexandrian version. Pity they seem to be so destructive
and so numerous, they're otherwise very pretty.

 

[Bhageera]

There's a flock (is that the correct collective noun for parakeets?) that seem to roost on Wormwood Scubs, just behind the prison. I only see them in the evening when I leave work.

 

[torjusg]

I have to say, Britain never fail to impress me with the amount of alien species it has got.

 

[Rebel]

I'm not sure about all the legends about how these birds became wild in the UK.

I think that any creature that is kept as a pet by enough people is bound to escape at some point. Previously our winters would have been too cold for them I guess and they would have died. With our recent milder weather they've managed to survive.

In the same ways that we have now rats that are resistant to poisons I would imagine that a stronger strain of parakeet that can survive the UK weather is quite likely too. I was taught that rats are not indigenous to the UK either but that they came over on boats as stowaways, they adapted very well to our country.

I'm thankful that at the moment there are only the two birds in my neighbourhood but I reckon they moved into the area to breed so we might end up with a lot more of them in coming years. I reckon that there's plenty for them to eat and because they are so pretty I reckon people will feed them too, heck around my neighbourhood they feed the crows and feral pigeons. The council put up notices to stop feeding them but they are ignored.

 

[Klenchblaize]

Can't prove it but 99.9% sure they were first seen in Bexley, Kent in the mid to late 70's.

Cheers

 

[ilan]

Yes i think the brown rat is not native but the black rat is . The parakeets have spread thro the london ring roughly within the M25 with the odd pockets spreading out into semirural locations . They seem to need a food supply suplimented by artificial supplies thro the winter .

 

[torjusg]

Yes i think the brown rat is not native but the black rat is . The parakeets have spread thro the london ring roughly within the M25 with the odd pockets spreading out into semirural locations . They seem to need a food supply suplimented by artificial supplies thro the winter .

Nope, the black rat is Asian too to my knowledge.

 

[JonnyP]

Can't prove it but 99.9% sure they were first seen in Bexley, Kent in the mid to late 70's.

Cheers

As I said above, they were introduced into the UK in the 60s.....
Mind you according to the same bird book that stated that, also states they are now classed as Britains most colourful bird.....I don't know what the kingfisher would say about that.....

 

[Mikey P]

Shedloads of parakeets near Richmond Park in London - mostly bright green. I used to live in Kingston and they would roost in a tree near our house. Noisy buggers.

 

[Rebel]

I just came across these articles:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=443733&in_page_id=1770

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=443880&in_page_id=1770

Seems that the parakeets could be culled.

I don't know where a person would stand legally if they decided to cull a few themselves, probably on shaky ground.