Dear Ian
Many thanks for reporting these - I wish someone had done that earlier as I
know them from England and have worried every time I see one in the wild.
I have passed the thread to the Department of Primary Industries - who.
storm, have been working hard on Barbary Doves and Red-eared Slider Turtles
since they took over responsibility from the DSE.
My email to DPI included:
"They are breeding - near certain - in Croydon, Melbourne and are far far
more worrying than Barbary Doves: they take over nest holes....
WA identifies them as an extreme threat:
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/objtwr/imported_assets/content/pw/vp/bird/pestnoteindianringneckfinaltext_200607.pdf
In England the RSPB site mentions 1,000 as one of the largest winter roosts
another site says 7,000, But I am sure that when I was in England in
September/October 2004 there was a TV report claiming that figure of 10,000
feeding in a single field !
Feral breeding started around 1970 and a UK Parliamentary committe report
says "According to Dr Chris Butler of Oxford University, Britain's wild
parrot population currently numbers 20,000 and is increasing by 30%
annually" (House of Commons Select Committee on Environment, Food and
Rural Affairs 19 August 2004).
Please - DPI - deal with them by the breeding season."
Michael Norris
Bayside, Melbourne
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