logo

Menu

  • Photography Blog
  • Photo books
  • News and weather
    • Enbridge Northern Gateway
  • People in the news
  • Northwest BC Industries
  • Natural world
    • Wildlife
  • Sea
  • Lakes, rivers and wetlands
  • Land
  • Photo Services
    • Portrait photojournalism
    • Commercial photography
    • Guides and outfitters
    • Photo printing
    • Photo books
  • Bio
  • Contact

Recent Posts

  • Remembering my visit to Florence, Oregon, which inspired the novel Dune
  • People of colour lives matter rally in Kitimat
  • Bees harvesting nectar from mountain cornflowers
  • Scream of the Forest photo book available from Blurb
  • Birds in a blizzard

RSS Model making and diorama photography

  • A cold, wet winter on Arch-to
  • Dollar Store Dinosaurs
  • Star Wars #ourgreatindoors
  • The Rusty Romulan
  • Hot chicken Jedha

Posts Tagged “Kensington Gardens”

The feral parakeets of Kensington Gardens

This (female?) ring-necked parakeet is a survivor, hanging upside from a branch with just one leg and huge scar on the chest. (Robin Rowland)

 

A feral ring-necked parakeet in a tree in London’s Kensington Gardens. (Robin Rowland)

Walking through London’s Kensington Gardens I saw a crowd of people around some trees and a loud screeching of birds.  Then I saw flashes of green as the birds flew between the trees and often landed on people’s hands and even heads, as they were (sometimes) fed.

This was a flock of what is called in Great Britain the ring-necked parakeet and in North America the rose-ringed parakeet. The species originates from both central Africa and India and has long been popular in the pet trade.   A population of feral parakeets was first noticed in England in 1969 and there are now thousands in parts of the country.  While in most places the feral parakeets thrive in city parks, their range is increasing in rural and wilderness areas. Because their diet includes cultivated fruit they are considered a pest by farmers. It appears that in England, the parakeets have rapidly evolved to survive the winters.  As you can see at least in the summer, they are perfectly camouflaged among green leaves. As well as England, there are large numbers  of feral parakeets in Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany, with smaller populations in southern California and Florida.

A ring-necked parakeet. (Robin Rowland)

A male ring-necked parakeet. The males have a faint blue and pink  “ring” around their head (Robin Rowland)

A ring-necked parakeet. (Robin Rowland)

 

June 30, 2017 Robin Rowland
Alpha6000, birds, Great Britain, London, Photoblog, PhotographyBird , Bird photography , birds , feral , Kensington Gardens , parakeet , ring-necked parakeet , rose-ringer parakeet

Archives

Archives

Search

All images Copyright © 2019 By Robin Rowland. All Rights Reserved.
WordPress Themes Copyright © 2017. by Web-Dorado