The Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri)

Jul 27, 2014 Features / Columnists, Interesting Creatures in Guyana

The Rose-ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), also known as the Ring-necked Parakeet, is a gregarious tropical Afro-Asian parakeet species that has an extremely large range. Since the trend of the population appears to be increasing, the species

Rose-ringed Parakeet

was evaluated as Least Concern by IUCN in 2012.
Rose-ringed Parakeets are popular as pets. The scientific name commemorates the Austrian naturalist Wilhelm Heinrich Kramer.
This non-migrating species is one of few parrot species that have successfully adapted to living in ‘disturbed habitats’, and in that way withstood the onslaught of urbanisation and deforestation. In the wild, this is a noisy species with an unmistakable squawking call.
Indian Rose-ringed Parakeets measure on average 40 cm (16 in) in length including the tail feathers. Their average single wing length is about 15–17.5 cm (5.9–6.9 in). The tail accounts for a large portion of their total length.
The Rose-ringed Parakeet is sexually dimorphic. The adult male sports a red neck-ring and the hen and immature birds of both sexes either show no neck rings, or display shadow-like pale to dark grey neck rings.
Four subspecies are recognized, though they do not differ much:
African subspecies:
African Rose-ringed Parakeet (P. k. krameri): West Africa in Guinea, Senegal and southern Mauritania, east to Western Uganda and Southern Sudan, Egypt Resident among the Nile valley certainly Giza sometimes seen on the north coast and Sinai. The African Parakeet also started to breed in Israel from the 80s and considered as Invasive species.
Abyssinian Rose-ringed Parakeet (P. k. parvirostris): Northwest Somalia, west across northern Ethiopia to Sennar district, Sudan.
Asian subspecies:
Indian Rose-ringed Parakeet (P. k. manillensis) originates from the southern Indian Subcontinent and has feral and naturalized populations worldwide. In Australia, Great Britain (mainly around London), the United States, and other western countries, it is often referred to as the Indian Ring-necked Parrot.
Boreal Rose-ringed Parakeet (P. k. borealis) is distributed in Bangladesh, Pakistan, northern India and Nepal to central Burma; introduced populations are found worldwide.
In the wild, Rose-ringed Parakeets usually feed on buds, fruits, vegetables, nuts, berries and seeds. Wild flocks also fly several miles to forage in farmlands and orchards causing extensive damage.
In India, they feed on cereal grains, and during winter also on pigeon peas. In Egypt, during spring they feed on mulberry and in summer they feed on dates and nesting inside palm trees as also attacking sunflower and corn fields.
REPRODUCTION
In north-west India, Indian Rose-ringed Parakeets form pairs during September to December. During this cold season, they select and defend nesting sites, and thus avoid competition for sites with other birds. Feeding on winter pea crops provides in particular the female with nutrients necessary for egg production. During April to June, they care for their young. Fledgings are ready to leave the nest before monsoon.
AVICULTURE
Rose-ringed Parakeets are popular as pets and they have a long history in aviculture. The ancient Greeks kept the Indian subspecies P. krameri manillensis, and the ancient Romans kept the African subspecies P. krameri krameri. Colour mutations of the Indian Rose-ringed Parakeet subspecies have become widely available in recent years.
MIMICRY
Both males and females have the ability to mimic human speech. First the bird listens to its surroundings, and then it copies the voice of the human speaker. Some people hand-raise Rose-ringed Parakeet chicks for this purpose. Such parrots then become quite tame and receptive to learning. They take time to mimic.
The Rose-ringed Parakeet has proved to be an adaptable species and its adaptations to cold winters in the Himalayan foothills allow it to easily withstand European winter conditions. It has established feral populations in India, a number of European cities, South Africa and Japan. There are also apparently stable populations in the USA (Florida, California and Hawaii) and a small self-sustaining population in Ankara, Turkey (concentrated in parks), Tunis, Tunisia, and Tripoli in Libya, Tehran, Iran (concentrated in the north side of the city). It is also found throughout Lebanon, Israel, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman. There are a small number of escaped birds in Australia.
The European populations became established during the mid to late 20th century from introduced and escaped birds. There are two main population centres in Britain: the largest is based around London.
It has been suggested that feral parrots could endanger populations of native British birds, and that the Rose-ringed Parakeet could even be culled as a result. A major agricultural pest in locations such as India, as of 2011 the Rose-ringed Parakeet population is growing rapidly but is generally limited to urban areas in southern England where their preferred diet of seed, nut, fruits, and berries are available in suburban gardens and bird feeders.
In the Netherlands, the feral population in the four largest urban areas (Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and especially in The Hague) has been estimated at 10,000 birds in 2010, almost double the number of birds estimated in 2004. There also exists a feral population in Belgium, with as many as 5,000 pairs estimated in Brussels. Other populations are found around Paris, Rome, Barcelona and Lisbon.
The specimens in these naturalized populations often represent intra-specific hybrids, originally between varying numbers – according to locality – of the subspecies manillensis, borealis, and/or (to a lesser extent) krameri along with some inter-specific hybrids with naturalized Psittacula eupatria (Alexandrine Parakeet).
However, in some parts of South Asia – from where the Rose-ringed Parakeets originated – populations of these birds are decreasing due to trapping for the pet trade. Despite some people’s attempts to revive their population by freeing these birds from local markets, the Rose-ringed Parakeet’s population has dropped drastically in many areas of the Indian subcontinent.
(Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)