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Fair warning and I suppose we shouldn't wait to
find out. However I wonder how relevant are analogies to Europe in this issue.
The Garden Birdwatch Handbook (by Andrew Cannon, based in England) also
carries a caution about the increase in population of the Rose-ringed Parakeet.
However niches for parrots are already quite saturated in Australia, so the
Rose-ringed Parakeets is not likely to get the easy opening that it has
achieved, in places like Barcelona. I agree though that if possible such birds
should be caught and reconfined to their original role as a pet. I had one that
arrived at my house in Canberra, it was barely able to perch upright on a gum
tree, indeed it dangled from a clump of leaves. I doubt that it would have
survived long.
Philip
Hi Joy and birders
I
hope 'older' subscribers will forgive the
necessary
repetition.
Yes the Psittacula parrots you and others
have reported
recently (Ring-necked/Rose-ringed Parakeets
P.krameri,
Alexandrine Parakeet P. eupatria, hybrids between these
two
and ? other species) are lovely birds. But they need to
be
returned to captivity as soon as possible.
P. krameri has gone
feral in England, taking over nesting
hollows from other birds. And
in Barcelona I was amazed to
see this June that it is the most numerous
bird in the city
after the feral pigeon, house sparrow and common
swift.
It could spread rapidly here to the disadvantage of
native
birds and ecosystems.
The following Australian article,
which I have not read,
says it is a concern for farmers too.
Hammad Ahmad Khan. (1998).
Rose-ringed Parakeet, Psittacula
krameri, a serious threat
to agriculture. Eclectus 5:
39-41.
Michael Norris
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