Ring-Necked Parakeet

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Compared to other invasive species of Britain, this one is one of the most infamous. It's also the first one we're focusing on that is not native to the Americas.

Its simple how these birds spread across the UK. Captive ones either escaped or were released into the wild and they've been thriving since

Facts
The ring-necked parakeet is also known as the rose-ringed parakeet.

They're usually found in the south east of England, but I live in the North and see them at my local park so there you go. They're especially abundant in London though.

It's in the family of psittaculidae which is underlined red fsr, btw try pronouncing that.

It can also be blue! Which is still not as nice looking as the green but whatever... You can also find banana ones, which are EASILY the best. The green ones are however the most common. Other colours include grey, violet, cobalt and mixes of those colours.

Problems
Here we go into the bad parts now. Rose ringed parakeets are potential vectors for a number of diseases including Newcastle disease, avian chlamydiosis and avian influenza. The only one I know out of them is avian influenza and that's because of Jurassic world evolution, look the rest up yourselves because this is about da birds 🦜.

On top of that they're also obviously going to be competitors for breeding sites with other bird species, meaning certain birds will not be able to find their nesting sites. They also compete for food, and seeing how they're larger compared to the majority of Britain's birds they're usually going to come out on top with the food.

There's not much we can really do to get them out of here because... they're birds. However they can be shot under UK gun laws as they're considered and classified as pests.

Blue one

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Blue one.

Population Status
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds estimates there to be around 8,600 breeding pairs in Britain. That's more than 17,000.

Diet
Like most birds of its kind, these are herbivores and will feed in buds, fruits, nuts, seeds and vegetables.

Weight and Size
The length of these is 40cm with a wingspan of 45cm.

Males weigh 130g whilst females weigh 110g.

Native Location
To find where these originally come from we go over to the Indian subcontinent and across central Africa.

Habitat
In their original locations, you'd find parakeets spanning in and from the arid tropical countrysides of Africa to the lowlands of India just south of the Himalayas.

That's irrelevant though because in the rainy island of Britain just hop on over to your local park and you'll probably find a few standing about on the dead trees we have 3/4 of the year. Oh well, at least that makes them easier to find.

Predators
Usual predators to birds such as these are going to be, well, other birds, birds of prey even.

Raptors that will hunt these birds across the isles can range from peregrine falcons, tawny owls and Eurasian hobbies.

Yellow one, look them up they're so cute

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Yellow one, look them up they're so cute.

Well that concludes the fact file on the ring necked parakeet. I don't think they cause too much damage (other than the diseases) because every single bird competes for food. Even then certain birds spread diseases, not just these fellas.

It's not up to me wether you want to shoot them or not though so... go ahead?

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