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    Since the 1960s, London’s parks and gardens have been home to striking green residents: Rose-ringed parakeets. Theories about their origins abound. But what really brought these parrots to a city so much colder than their natural habitat? Recently, scientists have used techniques from the world of criminology to find the answer: London’s parakeets were released from captivity. But who did it? And how did their numbers grow? Join us to investigate an avian mystery.

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    🔗 Source: “Understanding the origins of the ring-necked parakeet in the UK” https://zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jzo.12753

    #parakeets #london #terramater #parrots

    47 Comments

    1. I own 2 IRNs and they are such a joy to have. Def a big responsibility but I love them so much and their sassy, intelligent personalities! And they can talk really well and are so intelligent it. Love them (and all birds) so much!

    2. These birds are not indigenous to Africa, they originate from the north of India where the climate is quite similar to Europe. This species has simply migrated and has found most European cities offer favorable conditions for them, you will see them thriving in most European cities.

    3. either way they are a invasive and a pest. They will harm local animal life and create bigger problem ahead. Messing with the ecosystem can have a massive butterfly effect. Just ask the australians about rabbits.

    4. That is not entirely true, they progress over Europe as well and you can see them in almost every city in Europe. They simply migrate from Afrika and are able to live here due to their adaptability to the European climate which,by the way, is getting warmer in the last decades.

    5. It doesn't seem like they're causing too much trouble. I'd take parrots over the starlings and house sparrows we here in the US got from the Brits. I hear the starling population isn't doing so hot over there too so if you guys ever want to trade we have hundreds of millions to spare..

    6. I remember seeing some large blue parrots outside my South London flat in the mid-1980’s one Winter’s Sunday morning. I called the police as I assumed that they had escaped recently from somewhere – what a mistake. The person at the other end of the line said “hold the line a moment while I check” and after several minutes of roaring laughter in the background, the person picked the phone back up and struggled to put a sentence together. Being super-stupid, I told my workmates about the whole story in the office the next day. By the end of the day I had lost count of the number of times people burst into laughter as we passed in corridors, etc. Well, a few days later the evening TV news ran a story about blue parrots being spotted all over the area I lived in and had interviews with several people who said they’d been around for quite a few years. Redemption!

    7. I enjoyed the commentary. Are you an A.I. voice? One of the more understandable, domestic pet release reason I've heard. People would have been dealing with other serious issues at that time as well. 1920-30s, possibly the Depression, poverty and more!

    8. Well they are South Asians aren't they? Aka Indians… They'll survive anywhere. You invaded us back then well, we and our birds invade u now. Ha ha 😅

    9. "Climate change" has nothing to do with it, please stop using that narrative. These birds survive in cold winter locations, as do other "tropical" weather birds all over the world. Just because they weren't native to the UK doesn't mean they can't survive in the UK. In the 1930's there was no talk about the climate. They are growing in numbers because people are allowing them to grow in numbers by not culling them and continuously feeding them.

    10. They are lovely birds except for that they are incredibly noisy with their loud squawking in flocks. That can be annoying and does mark them out as alien. Invariably you hear them before you see them. I should add that, at the moment at least, they are creatures of the cities and suburbs, and not the countryside.

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