Studland Parakeets

nigel_b · #1 (**permalink**) 24-03-2010, 07:01 PM

I took an hour today to pop down to Studland to have a nose around for the small flock of ring-necked parakeets down there. Not something you see out and about everyday, a parakeet having a scratch! Sorry about the poor photos, best I could do.

According to the BBC website these can be fairly common locally:
"In the Big Garden Birdwatch 2006, the ring-neck parakeet was among the 20 most-sighted birds in London, seen in all 33 boroughs and jumping from 19th place in 2005 to 15th."
Excellent to see and hear.

Cowgirl · #2 (**permalink**) 24-03-2010, 08:00 PM

Great pics! I'd love to see them someday although I bet they're noisy beggars.

How did these parakeets become established? It can't have been one original escaped pair could it? Was there a mass escape from somewhere?

nigel_b · #3 (**permalink**) 24-03-2010, 08:08 PM

Thanks. I was thinking about that as well. Apparently two escaped about 13 years ago and the rest is history. I saw 3 or 4 this morning. The BBC had some interesting information:
BBC NEWS | UK | Magazine | How do parakeets survive in the UK?

Cowgirl · #4 (**permalink**) 24-03-2010, 08:15 PM

Interesting article, thanks Nigel. I suppose the foothills of the himalayas can be quite cold. I can't believe that all those originated from one pair though, what about genetics, all that inbreeding? Surely we should be getting a few two headed ones by now?

loripo · #5 (**permalink**) 24-03-2010, 08:17 PM

They seem to do very well in all the green spaces around London. So far it doesn't seem to have affected the small birds (not sure about woodpeckers tho). This one was in Holland Park last year...

they are very happy with the larger sized feeders. They tend to stay up at the tops of the trees and fly around in small groups. As we don't have huge numbers in one place it's not too noisy.

Mitty · #6 (**permalink**) 24-03-2010, 09:55 PM

Someone I know was researching where they came from. I only asked fleetingly but she said many of them were thought to have come from a breakout in Brussels, as they appeared in Kent first.

My Dad says they come from Shepperton studios when they escaped froma pirate film (but since I've learnt to be wary of 'Dad stories'!)

Jason Green · #7 (**permalink**) 24-03-2010, 10:43 PM

Evening Nigel,

Great shots!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

Great pics! I'd love to see them someday although I bet they're noisy beggars.

They can be noisy, but in a nice way

They are always nice to watch, as they fly over the garden in a screaming flock in numbers up to twenty!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cowgirl

How did these parakeets become established? It can't have been one original escaped pair could it? Was there a mass escape from somewhere?

I think one or two escaping from an aviary is more plausible, though rumour has it some escaped during a film. Several were used to deck-out a television studio to add credence to a film based around the Amazon, and when out they bred...

Take care,

Jason

loripo · #8 (**permalink**) 25-03-2010, 07:53 AM

There are quite a few clips of the parakeets on Youtube if you search on 'green parakeets'. One theory is that they were used for filming 'swamp' scenes for 'The African Queen' at Brentford and escaped.

IanR · #9 (**permalink**) 25-03-2010, 08:40 AM

I like the Jimi Hendrix theory he is said to have released them in the 60s to add a little psychedelic colour to London..

nigel_b · #10 (**permalink**) 25-03-2010, 09:29 AM

I like all the theories! You would have thought a little interbreeding might have occured but then it did with early humans as well.

I was surprised, being fairly bright green, just how difficult they were to spot. They're certainly noisy when they fly and you wouldn't miss them then.

It seems a fairly well-kept secret as well, I didn't know anything about them until a chance conversation with a visitor in the hide at Middlebere.