In recent years there has been a strange visitor to gardens and parks around the UK and now more commonly in the North East of England in the form of the Ring- Necked Parakeet. This article will explain everything you need to know about one of our strangest wild creatures in the United Kingdom and the impact that they can have on us and the environment.
What is the Ring- Necked Parakeet?
The Ring- Necked Parakeet is the United Kingdom’s only species of parrot that can be found in the wild. They can be identified by their green body with a long tail, with a red beak and a black ring around it’s neck, hence its name. They are often found in flocks with several other birds and have a loud call that can make it easier to be found.
How did the Ring Necked Parakeet arrive in the United Kingdom?
The Ring- Necked Parakeet is not a bird that is native to the United Kingdom, making it an invasive species. They arrived in the UK as part of the exotic pet trade, where they were a popular species to keep as a pet. Ultimately many birds were released by their owners or simply escaped from captivity where they flew into towns and bred with other birds that had left captivity, forming a fairly strong breeding population in the South- East of England by the 1990s. They have since managed to form a fairly strong population in cities around the entire country including Liverpool, Sheffield, Birmingham and now in more recent years many areas of the North- East.
How are they able to survive in the United Kingdom?
As with most species of Parrot, the Ring- Necked Parakeet originates from much hotter countries in areas like Africa and Southern Asia, where temperatures are generally very hot all year round. Therefore, it might seem strange that they are able to survive in the United Kingdom, where the conditions are very different to what the species had evolved to survive in. However, their diet consists mostly fruit, berries, nuts and seeds which are all food sources that are easily accessible to them in cities through areas like parks. Furthermore they are regular visitors to gardens where people have left out bird feeders for the local wildlife, however this can often lead to them being viewed as a pest.
Are Ring- Necked Parakeets a problem for local residents in the UK?
As the population of the Ring- Necked Parakeet’s in the UK continues to grow, with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) estimating there are now around 12000 pairs, the species are much more likely to come into contact with members of the public. While they are a beautiful bird that are a unique sight in the United Kingdom, they can become a pest in the gardens of people they regularly visit.
An area of Newcastle where they can be found is Heaton, where a resident I spoke with stated that: “They’re like louder, green pigeons” adding that “They’re impossible to get rid of”.
However, while they can cause a problem in gardens due to their noisiness and arriving in flocks they are also a fairly popular bird to see due to their beauty and exotic appearance.
Away from gardens, the species is considered an agricultural pest, with their diet of seeds and fruit causing tension with farmers as they eat their harvest, causing harm to the profits that they can make.
Are Ring- Necked Parakeets a threat to local wildlife?
Many invasive species can often arrive into an ecosystem and ultimately cause harm to native species causing their decline. A famous example of this in the United Kingdom is the American Grey Squirrel causing the decline of our native Red Squirrels due to them taking their food sources and spreading a disease called Squirrel Pox Virus. There are now 2.4 million more Grey Squirrels than Red Squirrels.
While the Parakeets do not pass on any disease to native birds, they can still cause some problems to them.
Dr Hazel Jackson of Kent University highlights that: “they dominate garden bird feeders, as you would expect due to their size, making it harder for our smaller native species to access the food put out for them.”
As well as this she also stated that: “Ring-necked parakeets are cavity hole nesters, so may compete with our native nuthatches and woodpeckers for these sites”.
However, although they can cause competition with some of our native bird species for feeding and nesting spaces, they are not anywhere near as common as these species. For example there are around 6 million pairs of Chaffinch which in comparison with 12000 pairs of Parakeets means that as things stand they are unlikely to cause any major threat to our native wildlife.
