# parakeets



## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

Part of the parakeet roost at Esher in Surrey


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

Looks just like the tree in my garden most days, they gather in flocks of up to 2 or 3 dozen, and have recently started "talking" to the chickens!


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## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

I was a little disappointed, all those parakeets and not one of them swore.


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

A couple of years ago a load of them landed in next-door's apple tree which was laden with small fruit, it took the birds about 20 minutes to strip it bare. I did hear some swearing but I think it was my neighbour!


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## guardian (Jan 8, 2011)

look like the ringnecks i have in aviarys
are they all green??


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

They are Ringnecks, green with red necks.


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## guardian (Jan 8, 2011)

black neck ring!!!
shame theres no blue ones, id nip down with the lads net, hehe.


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

guardian said:


> look like the ringnecks i have in aviarys
> are they all green??


Indian Ring-Necked Parakeets


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## hippyhaplos (Jan 12, 2010)

That's amazing!

Are they considered pests or welcome visitors in general?


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

hippyhaplos said:


> That's amazing!
> 
> Are they considered pests or welcome visitors in general?


At the moment, they are generally seen as exotic visitors who don't leave, but as numbers increase, there is a worry that they may start to cause the woodpecker population to decrease, as the Ring-Necks use woodpecker holes to nest in. There are many thousands living wild in the UK now, visiting bird tables & bringing a splash of colour to the gardens.


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## hippyhaplos (Jan 12, 2010)

Zoo-Man said:


> At the moment, they are generally seen as exotic visitors who don't leave, but as numbers increase, there is a worry that they may start to cause the woodpecker population to decrease, as the Ring-Necks use woodpecker holes to nest in. There are many thousands living wild in the UK now, visiting bird tables & bringing a splash of colour to the gardens.


Well they'd be welcome here anytime

Most we ever get is pigeons:O


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

hippyhaplos said:


> Well they'd be welcome here anytime
> 
> Most we ever get is pigeons:O


:lol2:

Aparently there are also flocks of Budgerigars & Conures living wild in Britain too


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## hippyhaplos (Jan 12, 2010)

Zoo-Man said:


> :lol2:
> 
> Aparently there are also flocks of Budgerigars & Conures living wild in Britain too


Yip... Feral Parrots in the UK | New Life Parrot Rescue

Still can't get over this haha


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

hippyhaplos said:


> Yip... Feral Parrots in the UK | New Life Parrot Rescue
> 
> Still can't get over this haha


Just consider yourself lucky that you don't live near one of the flocks of Ring-Necks, their noise is immense! One caged Ring-Neck's noise is too much for me!


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## hippyhaplos (Jan 12, 2010)

I'd be scuppered... The noise of birds in the morning kills me!


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## tomwilson (Feb 27, 2010)

hippyhaplos said:


> I'd be scuppered... The noise of birds in the morning kills me!


oh no bird song my one weakness:lol2: 

i would like to see some of these parakeets though, but i think they must have heard bad things about liverpool because there none up here, probably scared the scouse sparrows will nick all their seeds


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

tomwilson said:


> oh no bird song my one weakness:lol2:
> 
> i would like to see some of these parakeets though, but i think they must have heard bad things about liverpool because there none up here, probably scared the scouse sparrows will nick all their seeds


:lol2:


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## guardian (Jan 8, 2011)

haha, noisy, i have a dozen or so in a bird room, noisy yes, but nothing compared to all the conures, they are deafnin.... noisiest birds i know, parrots very quiet most of the time, conures its non stop squaking, good job my nearest neighbour is 2 miles away...

were abouts are there conures milling about.?


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## Ozgi (Jun 1, 2008)

I like the rumours about how they got here, my favourite is the one about Jimi Hendrix releasing some in the 60's to "bring some colour to London's skies" lol.


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## guardian (Jan 8, 2011)

would have origionally been escaped aviary birds id guess, as they stay together, and breed easy enough, doesnt take many years to get a good few then.
imagine how many escape every now and again, infact pets, on a daily basis around the country, must be hundreds of thousands of animals of all types.
most probably die, but some will make it and breed on their own, just as nauture intended, albeit in the cold and wet!!!!


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

I believe they actually pre-date Jimi Hendrix, so although it's a nice story it's almost certainly untrue, just like the one that they escaped from Shepperton Studios during the making of African Queen, I know people who were here then and worked on the film, and they swear there were no parakeets on set! 

Whether they are pests or not is debatable, they can certainly make a lot of noise, and they can be quite destructive as I mentioned earlier with my neighbour's apple tree. 

Just down the river here is a historic church at Sunbury and they damaged the old wooden bell tower, they were nesting in the tower and chewed the wooden structure from the inside, using the wood fibre to make their nests. The tower was very badly damaged and had to be repaired at some expense, and is now completely clad in wire mesh to keep them out.

They're probably not a direct threat to native birds, although they obviously compete for food, and they do make a colourful change in the garden.


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## Zoo-Man (Apr 12, 2008)

guardian said:


> haha, noisy, i have a dozen or so in a bird room, noisy yes, but nothing compared to all the conures, they are deafnin.... noisiest birds i know, parrots very quiet most of the time, conures its non stop squaking, good job my nearest neighbour is 2 miles away...
> 
> were abouts are there conures milling about.?


I know all about the noise Conures make - I have a pet Sun Conure! :lol2:

The feral conures are around London.


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## kettykev (May 15, 2009)

What ??


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## Shell195 (May 31, 2007)

The queen has a flock of free flying budgies at Windsor castle, surely these could become a nuiscance if they bred in the wild


It is not generally well known that the Queen has a collection of budgerigars at Windsor Castle. These birds are a free flying flock so they go out into the town during the day to forage. There has been no new blood for many years and fertility problems are beginning to become serious. So new blood is being introduced from other free flight budgie flocks in the UK and the birds are going on to a complete package of Birdcare Company supplements from late January 2001. It will take 2-3 years for the benefits of new bloddlines to show but we hope that the improved supplements package will bring results this year


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