Latest news with #parakeets
The Guardian
20 hours ago
- General
- The Guardian
Birdwatch: the immigrant species bringing a splash of bright green to Britain
A high-pitched screech penetrates the distant hum of traffic, as two impossibly green birds tear across the Hyde Park skyline. Although Londoners have got used to their presence, visitors to the capital are still surprised to see wild parakeets, even though they've been here for more than 50 years. I saw my first ring-necked (aka rose-ringed) parakeets in suburban Shepperton, sometime in the late 1970s. Then we dismissed them as escaped cage birds, like the free-flying budgies we would occasionally come across. That all changed in 1983, when the species was granted official status as a British bird. Yet they were still scarce and localised, and it seemed as if they would remain so for the foreseeable future. Fast forward to today, and those refugees from the Indian subcontinent have become a defining sight and sound of London's birdlife. I wonder if, just as chicken tikka masala has been adopted as a national dish, these gaudy interlopers might eventually displace the robin as Britain's national bird. Yet despite large flocks in London and other British cities, parakeets haven't yet spread to the countryside, and I've never seen one in Somerset. That might be just as well, given that a survey last year revealed widespread hostility to the birds. This was especially notable amongst older, rural people, while younger people and city-dwellers welcomed the non-native species. Yet I love parakeets, for bringing diversity and colour to our drab, grey lives.
Daily Mail
a day ago
- Climate
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Sarco suicide pod's SECOND victim: The doctor who witnessed woman's death, unanswered 'strangulation' questions, and the boss who now says: 'He was paranoid and delusional'
When he was five years old, Dr Florian Willet used to walk around the neighbourhood where he lived in Heidelberg, Germany, looking up. It's a picturesque city, fringed by the lush Black Forest, where the warm weather breeds fig and almond trees and rainbow-coloured parakeets swoop overhead.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Why are there so many parakeets in Surrey?
"Surrey is a prime parakeet county," says Oliver Fry from the Surrey Wildlife Trust. Standing in Meadowbank Park in Dorking, he tells Secret Surrey the bright green birds like tall trees, munching on blossom and drinking out of ponds. They are often heard before they are seen as they have "very loud, shrill voices" and "argue quite a lot", Mr Fry explains. But why are there so many parakeets in Surrey, and where did they come from? Mr Fry says many popular myths surround how parakeets - an invasive species - arrived in the UK. His favourite is that US guitarist Jimi Hendrix released them on Carnaby Street in London near the end of the 1960s. "It is lovely to think of him giving these exotic creatures their first taste of Britain." Going back further, the wildlife expert says another urban legend is that parakeets were brought onto the set of the 1951 film The African Queen and escaped. But the truth behind their arrival in the UK, according to him, is that they were imported from India and Pakistan as pets. "Many people who bought them relatively cheaply in those days got fed up with them and let them go," he tells BBC Radio Surrey. "The hardiest ones managed to eke out a living. Now they are thriving here." Mr Fry says parakeet imports were at their height in the 1970s and 80s, when large numbers of wild birds started to be shipped commercially by air. But the non-migratory species was brought in by boat before that and there are records of parakeets living in the wild during Victorian times. DNA research by the University of Kent has traced the majority of British parakeets back to populations from Pakistan and northern parts of India. Mr Fry says the parakeet trade boomed because they were easy to catch, transport and sell. But the bird was a "rip off", he continues. "They generally don't like to be kept in cages, they don't tame down very easily and are noisy." Though he himself likes them, Mr Fry says the species is controversial for both the public and conservationists. "Not everyone loves them. They are very brash, colourful, domineering creatures. "That obviously is going to divide opinion." Follow BBC Surrey on Facebook or X. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. England's largest vineyard plagued by pigeons How well do you know the songs of Surrey's spring birds? Call for catapult ban after spate of swan attacks Surrey Wildlife Trust
BBC News
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Why are there so many parakeets in Surrey? Where did they come from?
"Surrey is a prime parakeet county," says Oliver Fry from the Surrey Wildlife Trust. Standing in Meadowbank Park in Dorking, he tells Secret Surrey the bright green birds like tall trees, munching on blossom and drinking out of ponds. They are often heard before they are seen as they have "very loud, shrill voices" and "argue quite a lot", Mr Fry why are there so many parakeets in Surrey, and where did they come from? Jimi Hendrix and the African Queen Mr Fry says many popular myths surround how parakeets - an invasive species - arrived in the UK. His favourite is that US guitarist Jimi Hendrix released them on Carnaby Street in London near the end of the 1960s. "It is lovely to think of him giving these exotic creatures their first taste of Britain." Going back further, the wildlife expert says another urban legend is that parakeets were brought onto the set of the 1951 film The African Queen and escaped. But the truth behind their arrival in the UK, according to him, is that they were imported from India and Pakistan as pets. "Many people who bought them relatively cheaply in those days got fed up with them and let them go," he tells BBC Radio Surrey. "The hardiest ones managed to eke out a living. Now they are thriving here." Mr Fry says parakeet imports were at their height in the 1970s and 80s, when large numbers of wild birds started to be shipped commercially by the non-migratory species was brought in by boat before that and there are records of parakeets living in the wild during Victorian research by the University of Kent has traced the majority of British parakeets back to populations from Pakistan and northern parts of India. 'Bash, colourful, domineering' Mr Fry says the parakeet trade boomed because they were easy to catch, transport and sell. But the bird was a "rip off", he continues. "They generally don't like to be kept in cages, they don't tame down very easily and are noisy." Though he himself likes them, Mr Fry says the species is controversial for both the public and conservationists. "Not everyone loves them. They are very brash, colourful, domineering creatures. "That obviously is going to divide opinion."
