Philip Veerman's message reminds me that last Tuesday morning (Dec 17) there
was a Rose-ringed Parrot (Indian Ringneck) on the path just below the Sydney
Sandstone garden in the ANBG. It obviously hadn't been out of its cage for
too long as it was having trouble with sustained flight. A COG Incidental
Record form will be submitted.
Mark
-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Veerman
Sent: Saturday, 21 December 2013 1:37 PM
To: 'Elizabeth Compston'; 'Birds Canberra'
Subject: budgie
It can get quite cold in inland Australia too, but not as sustained as in
Washington. There are whole populations of tropical (mainly South American)
parrots in USA cities as well as various feral Asian parrots common in
Europe. So they can get by quite well.
For what it is worth, there is a interest group devoted to feral parrots.
Here is a message from 3 years ago for anyone who would like to follow this.
Philip
Dear parrot researchers and parrot friends,
You are cordially invited to join the "World Parrot Count". We, Roelant
Jonker and Michael Braun of the "extra-tropical department" of the Parrot
Researchers Group of the International Ornithological Union (IOU), would
like to initiate the first global parrot census this January in order to get
much needed scientific data about parrots living in cities around the globe.
This count is intended to become an annual event. For further information
please visit the following website:
http://www.cml.leiden.edu/parrot.html
If you have any questions please contact us via the following
E-mail-address:
Please feel free to forward this message to everybody who could be
interested. We would like to create a global parrot community of
professional researchers, field ornithologists as well as amateur naturalist
that will enable us to measure the development of native and non-native
parrots living in cities.
See you at the roost!
All best,
Roelant Jonker (Leiden University, The Netherlands) Michael Braun
(Heidelberg University, Germany)
-----Original Message-----
From: Elizabeth Compston
Sent: Saturday, 21 December 2013 10:34 AM
To: Birds Canberra
Subject: budgie
Message from and American friend who has spent time with us, in Canberra and
elsewhere, bird watching
Elizabeth Compston
> I woke up this morning with the resolution to answer your letter of 10
> December before I forget to do so what with all of the impending
> activity of Christmas. But it turns out that I didn't have to have
> that resolve because one of the most interesting items appeared this
> morning at breakfast. That item is a budgerigar which had been
> visiting our feeders since we returned from Cape Cod where I spend the
> summer at the GFD program. It must have escaped from a cage in
> someone's house. We were impressed by that little bird because it
> competed pretty effectively with some very aggressive sparrows and
> some bigger birds. In fact, it tended to dominate the other birds at
> both of our two feeders. However, I figured that it was only a matter
> of time before it would disappear because the temperature has gotten
> steadily colder, and sure enough we had not seen it during this very
> cold month - until this morning, when it appeared again in spite of
> the -10C temperature. Since I had seen it only in the outback in
> Australia, I figured that it was confined to warm climates.
> Obviously, not so. I wonder how long it will be able to withstand the
> winter temperatures that will inevitably be present for the remainder
> of the winter.
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