Plague of the Ring Necked Parakeets (1 Viewer)

[Peewit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencet...-British-farmers-numbers-hit-20-000-high.html

It appears that Parakeets are becoming a problem to farmers now - eating fruit crops!

Not so good!

 

[Peewit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ar-old-church-spire-causing-5-000-damage.html

Yet another story about the same birds.

This time they have taken a notion to making holes in church spires - I think for nesting comes to mind. hmmmmm....

They are beautiful but they are getting a bad reputation me thinks.....

 

[Gerry Hooper]

They're a bit of a pest in India too.
Can we call them " Pink necked Rackets" . They make an awful noise.

 

[Hotspur]

same species peewit just 2 names

 

[Flemingo]

Mmm. The Mail likes 5,000. They caused £5,000 damage to the church, £5,000 damage to fruit crops and a farmer spends £5,000 on bird scarers. Nice number.

 

[ColonelBlimp]

And yet no-one suggests a cull!

 

[Quercus]

And yet no-one suggests a cull!

Parakeets..... or Daily Mail readers?

 

[Peewit]

same species peewit just 2 names

Thanks for correcting me with the names - never knew that!

What do people do as we are supposed to be a nation of animal lovers

My OH tells me there are a flock that reside in Hyde Park, London, and they are very noisy birds, but are beautiful to look at.

So what do you do about them as a species? BoP to chase them off! :eek!:

 

[Clive Watson]

And yet no-one suggests a cull!

I wouldn't be surprised if it happened. They've increased enormously during my seventeen years in Surrey and I believe they are quite bad at evicting native birds from nest holes.

 

[colonelboris]

The Mail have just swapped 'asylum seekers' for 'Ring-necked Parakeets'. Coming over here, stealing our jobs/fruit, when will the government send them home and how will it affect house prices and does it give you cancer while simultaneously being a cause of cancer...
But of course, all of it's believable IF WE TYPE IT IN CAPITALS AND SCREAM THE GEADLINE AT YOU.
Something like that.

 

[derelict]

So what do you do about them as a species? BoP to chase them off!

RNPs have benefited hugely from the long run of mild winters. - they do very well in the autumn getting to sweet chestnuts &c before the equally invasive grey squirrels do. However the species that really miss out are the deer - the RNPs attack the nuts when they are slightly unripe and soft so the ones that do hit the deck (a remarkably small proportion) are less nutritious. My worry is that the deer in the local park (Richmond) are missing out on what used to be a major supplementary foodsupply - this year the notices asking people not to collect the deer's chestnuts went up after the RNPs had scoffed the lot - and a future hard winter may cause serious problems for the deer as I don't suppose the RNPs are going to repatriate themselves in advance! In the spring they wreak havoc with buds and shoots. They're far more destructive than squirrels - you don't get 100 squirrels descending on one tree at a time.

I'd like the Royal Parks to get a pair of goshawks into Richmond - although I occasionally find signs that a kestrel or owl has taken out a RNP it really needs something a bit more up for the job...

 

[ColonelBlimp]

There was a programme on the Beeb a while ago about the parakeets in London which was basically stuffed with people saying how wonderful they were and how much they brightened up their day-with one old lady even feeding them huge numbers of peanuts.

Even if you try to explain the merits of a cull to the vast majority of people they will either misunderstand the merits, get cross or not care either way. And these are the people that matter in the rather flawed system of democracy!

 

[Xenospiza]

I believe they are quite bad at evicting native birds from nest holes.

Indeed: according to a Dutch survey, they tend to lose when competing with Jackdaws and Green Woodpeckers (that use similar-sized holes).

Or is that not what you meant?

 

[Nick Tanner]

Tut tut Quercus, clueless middle class twatism just isn't funny!

Nick

 

[AlanR]

So how come I've never seen one of these birds.
I don't think they have spread as far as Cheltenham yet.
Alan

 

[PAB Manager]

Tut tut Quercus, clueless middle class twatism just isn't funny!

Nick

I thought it was very funny! :t:

 

[colonelboris]

Tut tut Quercus, clueless middle class twatism just isn't funny!

Nick

Would you like some vinegar to go with that chip?

 

[Quercus]

Tut tut Quercus, clueless middle class twatism just isn't funny!

Nick

Hehehehhehehehe... it just is!

Thanks for my best insult on BF so far :t:

hehehheheeh...I've never been called middle class before hhheehehehehhehe

 

[Nick Tanner]

Honestly, do i have to spell it out, I wasn't calling you a clueless middle class **** (AKA a daily mail reader), just that you were being prejudiced against them, by the way are you middle class?

 

[Quercus]

Back to the birds.. please... !