Ring Necked Parakeets have been in the news recently – which coincides with Steve Joul sending me reports and film of sightings in Roundhay Park.
Ring Necked Parakeets (psittacula krameri), also known as Rose Ringed Parakeets, are natives of Africa and southern Asia. They have become naturalised in the UK, probably because pets were released or escaped into the wild in the 1970’s.
At first, they established colonies in the southeast England, in particular Surrey, Kent and Sussex, but they have slowly been spreading northwards and have even been spotted as far north as Edinburgh and Glasgow.
You are probably wondering where you can see these exotic birds in Roundhay Park and Steve tells me that there is a roost outside the Lakeside Cafe. He saw 22 birds there on the 4th January and they leave the roost at dawn and return at dusk.
Here is a film which he took at 7.45 am on the 1st December.
They are often seen in flocks and, nationally, it is estimated that there are now 170,000 in the UK.
The reason that Ring Necked Parakeets have been in the news is that they have become so numerous in the London area that some people are calling for a cull as they are an invasive species and they are allegedly causing problems for farmers and native species.
From an ecological perspective, they nest in holes in trees and so there is a fear that they compete with tits, starlings and nuthatches. The RSPB and the BTO are not calling for a cull at the moment because there is insufficient evidence that they are a problem.
Their diet is nuts, seeds, berries and fruits – though they will apparently eat bacon off garden bird tables – so farmers fear that they could cause a lot of damage to crops.
Here is a recording of Chris Packham talking about Ring Necked Parakeets on Broadcasting House on Radio 4 on the 24th January 2021.
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