What do you think of as the typical British Bird? Pigeons? Robins? Wrens?

Wrong.

Parakeets.

Areas surrounding London have been invaded by a Green Lurgy. Parakeets. (There were approx 1,500 in 1995 and now there are 30,000). No one knows why the population explosion.

They come from India and Sub-Saharan Africa–but they didn’t get to the UK by flying. Most people agree, it all began with someone letting their exotic birds out of their cage. WHO LET THE BIRDS OUT?

But they aren’t exotic pets anymore. They are pests. Threatening crops, monopolizing garden bird feeders, being loud and noisy and waking all the children up. Basically annoying everyone.

Rose-ringed parakeet in it’s tree–or someone else’s
(I don’t think you want to mess with him)
Photo: Jean-Louis Le Moigne

And now they could be threatening British birds.

The British birds are more restrained (of course they are, they are British) and I imagine more polite too? But not the wily parakeet: no. He is eating up all their berries and taking over all their trees. For instance, the nuthatch is threatened since they both nest in holes in old trees.

“Project Parakeet” is underway to get to the bottom of it all.

The NYT quotes one student: “I saw one have it with a jackdaw,’ she said, referring to a British crow (itself no shrinking violet.) ‘The Jackdaw lost.’

Creeeeeepy.

Remind you of The Birds anyone…?