wrote:
> 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 two Psittacula species mentioned have been in Australia for probably
100 years or more, and during that time, in spite of many thousands of
escapees, have never formed perpetuating breeding colonies. The odd
pair has bred for a year or two and then died out - there was a pair in
New Farm (Brisbane) in the early 1990's that bred for a couple of years
(the babies were removed for hand rearing by an enterprising local
aviculturalist) and then they disappeared. Alexandrines appear to have
never bred in Australia. On the Sunshine Coast of Queensland probably
around 200 escape each year - virtually none survive more than a week or
two.
The difference between the Psittacula in Australia and elsewhere in the
world is that we have an abundant native parrot population, well able to
out-compete exotic parrots for the limited nest hollows in suburban
areas - a Ringneck doesn't stand a chance against a Rainbow Lorikeet
when it comes to a fight over a nest hollow! In addition colonies in
Europe and elsewhere are established from wild caught and imported
birds, well versed in survival techniques, whereas in Australia, where
importation of wild caught birds ceased around 1950, all our escapees
are aviary bred, and totally lacking in any survival traits except how
to find a seed dish on a shelf in an aviary.
It is interesting that no exotic parrots appear to have ever established
in the wild in Australia over the 100 years or more that they have been
present here.
cheers,
Mike Owen
Queensland
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