When I moved to London I never would have imagined seeing parakeets flocking to trees in my new neighbourhood. As I was taking a walk I heard squawking that was not unfamiliar to me having taken trips to tropical locations, so I looked up and sure enough there they were beautiful ring-neck parakeets.
The medium-sized, green parakeet, the ring-necked parakeet is the UK's only naturalized parrot and the most northerly breeding parrot in the world. Ring-necked parakeets are originally from Africa and southern Asia and were kept as pets in the UK. They escaped into the wild; however, and have become naturalized in the south-east especially, aided by warmer winters. They nest in holes in trees in gardens and parkland and are often found in noisy, roosting flocks of hundreds of birds. They eat nuts, seeds, berries and fruits.
There are many stories on how the birds came to be in England the most popular are that Jimi Hendrix would have released a couple of birds as a publicity stunt in 1968 and earlier in 1951 during the filming of The African Queen starring Humphrey Bogart and Catherine Hepburn. Researchers from Queen Mary University, University College London, and Goldsmiths have concluded there may have been two spikes in releases – 1929-31 and 1952 – caused by sensationalized media coverage of human deaths from “parrot fever” outbreaks.
From 1929, the study’s authors found a string of lurid newspaper stories of people dying from psittacosis infections, which could have frightened parakeet owners into letting their birds go.
“It is easy to imagine the headlines of 1952, such as 'stop imports of danger parrots' leading to a swift release of pets,” said Sarah Elizabeth Cox, from Goldsmiths University.
You can attract these beautiful noisy birds to your back yard by making their favourite food available. Fresh fruits and vegetables, berry bushes and plants in your gardens will attract them to you. If you don’t want to start feeding them you can always go to Hyde Park and bring apples they will easily perch on your arms and hands to get a fresh piece of fruit.
If bird watching and England wildlife interests you, I invite you to visit: www.bbowt.co.uk
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