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A parrot in an alder tree.

Posted: December 1st, 2019, 4:17 pm
by scottnsilky
I have a mature alder tree outside my living room, and from a second floor window I have a good view of the comings and goings, and I have a pair of binoculars handy to watch the birds. The dozen or so thrushes which gathered there last month have left, gone south for Christmas, I suppose, I don't have a resident population. The goldfinches and the blue tits don't seem to be around, just the occasional magpie now. An hour ago, I had a new visitor, a ring-necked parrakeet? Certainly a parrot of some denomination. I've seen them in Kew Gardens, but I'm 200 miles north, I never thought I'd see one here. I only saw one, hopefully there's another to keep it company. A quick check on the internet shows there's a flock in Glasgow too.
The magpies didn't seem too happy with their new neighbour.

dp

Re: A parrot in an alder tree.

Posted: December 1st, 2019, 6:23 pm
by bungeejumper
Sounds entirely plausible. The RSPB has a map at https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildl ... -parakeet/

How odd that they move out of London in winter? I'd have thought that would be the warmest place they could be. But maybe there simply isn't enough to eat in the capital's green spaces once the leaves have dropped and the seeds stop coming?

BJ

Re: A parrot in an alder tree.

Posted: December 3rd, 2019, 5:56 pm
by Rhyd6
How wonderful. Thanks for the map BJ, it seems that the parrots have been spotted on the Wirral so maybe they can be persuaded to cross the border and visit us in Wales. I spotted two larks in the botton field this morning and we're inundated with tits of all shapes and size.plus magpies, crows etc. and of course wood pigeons plus some really dumb pheasants.

R6

Re: A parrot in an alder tree.

Posted: December 3rd, 2019, 10:59 pm
by dspp
Rhyd6 wrote:plus some really dumb pheasants.

R6


Is there another sort ?

- dspp

Re: A parrot in an alder tree.

Posted: December 3rd, 2019, 11:05 pm
by Nimrod103
dspp wrote:
Rhyd6 wrote:plus some really dumb pheasants.

R6


Is there another sort ?

- dspp


In evolutionary terms, not so dumb. They manage to get lots of human help to protect their environment, ensure their breeding success and rear their young. They just have to submit to the lottery of being shot at occasionally. No chance of them going extinct - they taste too good.

Re: A parrot in an alder tree.

Posted: December 4th, 2019, 3:20 pm
by scotia
scottnsilky wrote:I have a mature alder tree outside my living room, and from a second floor window I have a good view of the comings and goings, and I have a pair of binoculars handy to watch the birds. The dozen or so thrushes which gathered there last month have left, gone south for Christmas, I suppose, I don't have a resident population. The goldfinches and the blue tits don't seem to be around, just the occasional magpie now. An hour ago, I had a new visitor, a ring-necked parrakeet? Certainly a parrot of some denomination. I've seen them in Kew Gardens, but I'm 200 miles north, I never thought I'd see one here. I only saw one, hopefully there's another to keep it company. A quick check on the internet shows there's a flock in Glasgow too.
The magpies didn't seem too happy with their new neighbour.

dp

A lonely parakeet visited my in-laws garden for many years in Wick (Caithness). The attraction was a supply of apples that were offered as payment for the sight of such a colourful bird. It was probably an escapee - with no companions, but it survived many years in the extreme North East of mainland Scotland.

Re: A parrot in an alder tree.

Posted: March 28th, 2020, 3:28 pm
by tournesol
I do not share the positive sentiments towards ring necked parakeets. I live in Kent where they have a had a foothold for many years and where they are slowly but surely expanding their territory.

They live in large colonies and like to nest in holes in trees. Owls, woodpeckers, nuthatches and other birds which live in holes and trees go out for a day's foraging then return home to find their nest occupied and dozens of parakeets squatting around it.

Owls, woodpeckers and nuthatches, deprived of their homes, are reducing in numbers. Parakeets, benefitting from the protection of the flock are increasing in numbers.

It's not only other birds who suffer from the increase in numbers. The parakeets are very destructive of agricultural crops. They maraud and often give the impression of doing damage for the sake of it.

I regard them as the avian equivalent of the grey squirrel. They are a serious threat to native species and we'd be better off without them. They are less colourful than a green woodpecker, their screech is less melifluous than an owl, less interesting to watch than a a nuthatch.

A plague on all their houses.