female Alexandrine Parrakeet

[David Rees <>]

Bill

Can personally confirm that Rose-ringed Parakeets (Psitticula krameri) are now common birds in suburban west and southwest London and are present in surrounding rural areas. There was a famous roost in the suburb of Hersham, which back in the 'noughties' consisted of some thousands of birds, and the experience there each night was a sight to behold and hear!!  Have some old footage - should get it out sometime.  The trees they roosted in were eventually cut down and the birds dispersed, but they are still around, several roosts can be found now in suburbs around Heathrow Airport for example.  People there do not mind seeing the odd one, given they are spectacular birds, however en mass they can be a menace.  They must however use up a lot of nest holes which could otherwise have been used by native species - so there must be an impact there.  They are aggressive at garden bird feeders.

Apparently,  Monk Parakeets have/are breeding wild in parks in Belgium (and elsewhere in Europe)- They nest communally and the resulting 'construction' can get huge and a worry if it falls from a height in a public space.  I've seen such communal nests in Argentina (where they are native) and they are impressive. 

Singapore has a number of introduced species, including feral Tanimbar correllas (Cacatua goffini), which I've seen there.   I have no doubt that our Little Corella has potential as a pest elsewhere.

NZ has 'wild' populations of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Galahs but numbers remain low.  However Eastern Rosellas there are now common, esp in the northern half of the North island.  It is a sad fact that in some Northland forests, them and the Indian mynah are now the most obvious daytime forest birds (there are still kiwis to be found at night!!)..   Crimson rosellas were also introduced there ,but did not do as well and are now thought to be close/at the point of disappearing - I've seem them in Wellington in the past, but not recently.  NZ Authorities keep an eye out for feral Rainbow Lorikeets, which could give local native nectivore birds like the Tui and bellbird a very hard time.

David

On Wed, Aug 2, 2017 at 11:00 AM, B&RGraham <> wrote:

This morning I heard an unfamiliar call that turned out to be a female Alexandrine Parrakeet in a large cage belonging to Pakistani ? neighbours. As members of the parrot family have been successful in breeding in the UK and California and Florida is it just a matter of time before this occurs here. My reasoning is that the keeping of caged birds is popular throughout Asia and we have a significant migration from the sub continent across to China.  There is also the custom of releasing caged birds. Would anyone like to predict the next exotic species of Parrot to establish itself here? How many species of parrots have established themselves in new areas across the world. Is it all bad?

Bill Graham