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Dec 22, 2009, 1:54pm

Beastwatch UK :: BIRDS :: BIRDS :: EXOTIC BIRDS :: Parakeets

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Topic: Parakeets (Read 1,090 times)

redditchlady
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Parakeets
« Thread Started on Oct 4, 2006, 3:00pm »

Thanking Lisa from our Beastwatch Files forum for this one

Parakeets bring touch of Africa to Surrey skies

You hear them before you see them - the screeching 'kee-ak' sound of a
swooping 7,000-strong flock of exotic parakeets that have taken over a
small corner of Southern England.

Their shrill cacophony drowns out the tuneful song of our more
familiar garden birds and is driving local fruit growers and farmers
to despair as they devour the crops for miles around.

Parakeets come home to roost in Surrey

The exotic flock is roosting in a collection of tall poplar trees at
Esher Rugby Club in Surrey, and there are complaints that the birds -
which originate in Northern India but live in a variety of habitats in
Australia, Asia, Central and South America and parts of Africa - are
driving away domestic birds.

And, feasting mainly on fruit, nuts and seeds, the noisy parakeets
have been descending on crops for miles around.

Ulrika Perry and her husband Peter have grown fruit in their Surrey
garden for more than four decades, but in the past three years they
been beaten to the harvest by parakeets before their crop is even ripe.

"When we first moved here we didn't mind the odd parakeet. But not any
more,' Ulrika said.

"They come every day and rip off the tops of our trees, tearing away
the fruit before it's even ripe and leaving nothing but a huge mess in
our garden. They have torn apart our birches and our pear trees have
been obliterated.

"The parakeets are pests. They are worse then foxes and seem to just
increase and increase. But short of shooting them, I don't know what
can be done."

Others complain about being awoken by hordes of parakeets screeching a
dawn chorus at 4am. "They are so noisy', said Margaret Harris. "They
really are a hazard and I worry about their increasing numbers."

But the parakeets also have their fans. They provide such a colourful
contrast to the muted greys and browns of domestic sparrows and
finches, that many in the area have grown to love them - and plans to
lop their roosting trees at the rugby club have sparked controversy.

Sue Dickinson, who lives next to the club with her husband Tony and
their three children, said: "The parakeets are noisy but they are also
fascinating and we really love them, especially the children. It would
be a great shame to see them go."

Greg Popper, who moved from America to Surrey six years ago, said:
"The parakeets are fantastic. They really bring colour and diversity
to Britain. They add a touch of the exotic." The number of parakeets
in the wild has exploded since a handful of birds escaped from
captivity after being brought to this country as pets.

They have multiplied over a succession of mild winters and there are
now thought to be as many as 20,000 living wild in the South East. If
they carry on increasing at their current rate of 20 to 30 per cent a
year, their population could easily increase to 65,000 by the end of
the decade.

Roughly the size of a collared dove, the birds get their name from the
rose-coloured ring around the throat and have a bright red beak and
distinctive pointed wings.

Their arrival in Britain remains in the domain of urban myth. Many
believe them to be descendants of a pair of parakeets that escaped
during filming of The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and
Katharine Hepburn, at Shepperton Studios in 1951.

Others claim they were released from aviaries damaged during the great
storm of 1987, while some people even credit rock legend Jimi Hendrix
with freeing the first pair of parakeets into the British countryside.

Last night Grahame Madge, a spokesman for the RSPB, said: "There are
some real agricultural problems surfacing where these parakeets are
destroying a lot of the crops in Surrey and surrounding areas. As a
nation we have been welcoming to non-native species but studies have
shown that more extinction of our own wildlife is brought about by the
influx of such species - they are a huge threat.

"Although parakeets are exotic, it is getting to the point where
action is going to have to be taken.

"People will have to embrace the concept that we must make some tough
decisions in the future - for the sake of the economic welfare of our
agriculture and the conservation of natural wildlife."

Daily Mail 23/9/06
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=4066\
86&in_page_id=1770

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Chris Mullins
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Re: Parakeets
« Reply #1 on Oct 6, 2006, 8:50pm »

I recieved a report from a lady in Buck's that says there's a Ring Necked Parakeet, goes and feeds regularly 3 times a day in her garden over there.

She sent me a pic.

See if you can spot it: ??

[image]

Chris

« Last Edit: Oct 6, 2006, 9:20pm by redditchlady »

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Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. (Sherlock Holmes)

Chris Mullins
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BEASTWATCH UK
www.beastwatch.co.uk

Chris Mullins
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Re: Parakeets
« Reply #2 on Apr 17, 2007, 5:16am »

Originally posted to our Beastwatch UK's Archives, http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/beastwatch_files/ by Lisa

Rod Liddle Column, Sunday Times, 25/3/07

"What has Britain's flourishing immigrant community of ringnecked
parakeets ever done to offend the Royal Society for the Protection of
Birds? The parakeets live in large colonies in southeast England,
including my neck of the woods, Dulwich, where they roost at dusk in
colourful, clamorous hordes over the cafe in the park. Nobody can be
sure how they came to be here: popular mythology insists they are
descendants of escapees from the set of the film The African Queen in
1950.

Now, it seems, they face being culled — and with the blessing of the
RSPB, which, despite no evidence, worries about their impact upon
"indigenous" birds. Britain's most popular charity even offered the
helpful advice that it would be easy to shoot parakeets because they
are conspicuous and gregarious. This seems counter to the RSPB's
raison d'être. It is there, as its name suggests, to protect birds.
The parakeets are birds, every bit as much as starlings, chaffinches
and hoopoes. Offering tips on how best to kill them seems, to me, an
abrogation of its responsibility. And racist to boot."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment....icle1563706.ece

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Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth. (Sherlock Holmes)

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BEASTWATCH UK
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riksnook
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Re: Parakeets
« Reply #3 on Jan 16, 2009, 7:22pm »

I have a lot of parakeets that live, breed and fly near me in Sevenoaks, Kent. Feelings towards them are mixed. I however really like seeing them about but they are useing would be nests of british species. This still does not mean to me they need to be culled. I love seeing and hearing them about my garden.

Rik

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