I'd rather hear a Parakeet than a Drone Indian Ringneck parakeets ( the most prevalent at the last count ) are much the same as any other species - given the right conditions, why be surprised they settle, thrive and reproduce. Much like humans. Deliberate or accidental escapes along with intentional introduction of non native animals/plants have occurred for over 100 years at least and it still continues to this day. We only have ourselves to blame.
Although people tell me they have seen parakeets around here I've never seen any. Mostly they say they are a an alien species . Got lots of those around here, and even grey squirrels.
That shocks me! Your gardens are quite tropical and I would have thought they'd flock there first chance they got! There's one squirrel nastier than the grey squirrels. The red American type squirrel. They're destructive and I discourage them from visiting every time I see them.
We had some very noisy parakeets in the garden for some days but I discouraged them because they were attacking other birds and keeping them away from the bird feeders.
Decades ago my late mum used to breed parakeets, she also had Ringneck's but didn't breed them. They are noisy and like some other parakeets/parrots can be destructive.
We have a bunch of about 6 parakeets here. Some come on the bird feeder that is so close to the kitchen window that we get a close up view. One sits in the hanging water bowl and has a bath and sloshes all the water out. Then I have to refill it. Still a novelty here. They seem OK with the other birds. Saw a drone once here at the bottom of the garden. I think it was the golf club surveying its water courses. But I waved at it and off it went. It was a bit too close.
They are quite beautiful to look at but in our local parks (where they nest in holes in the trees) they are deafening and you don't really hear other birds much any more. It makes it feel quite tropical, I suppose. In the garden they like to strip a Lawson cypress of all its cones, dropping them to the ground and making a huge mess. They also like to swing on the bird feeders but don't get much out of the ones I have (squirrel proof ones). They make a racket but they're not here all the time so occasionally you can hear other birds. If they're anywhere around though, not a chance!
I'm very glad we don't have parakeets here. For years I had a neighbour who kept cockatiels in a shed right outside my back door. The noise was horrible, they shrieked all day and I couldn't escape it anywhere in the house. They only shut up when it got dark, so I hated the long summer days and couldn't use my garden at all.
We have the ghastly things round here [green ones] and they seem to be settling in at the NT garden which is about 100 yards away. There's a resident colony in Victoria Park in Glasgow, and I first saw them about 6 years ago, but I only saw them fleetingly, and heard the noise, and couldn't work out what they were. It was only a few days after a chap came to fix a broken roof tile, and asked if I'd seen them, that I put 2 and 2 together. They were clearly going back and forth from that park to this area. They appeared at one of the feeders that winter, but I now don't have any feeders outwith my purpose built cages, and haven't had them since. I've seen them in another garden on their feeders though. I'm not having them prevent other birds getting food.
I prefer them to pigeons. They are in Dawsholm park in Glasgow too, they were also in Kelvingrove but I haven't seen them there in ages. Might help that I'm deaf enough I can't hear them
We have a small group of parakeets here. They live mainly in the large mature street trees. We only get occasional visits into the garden itself, usually they are flying over or sat up in the top of our trees. They sometimes come after the apples but only those at the very top which we can’t reach anyway. I keep hoping they will develop a taste first medlars, our tree always has a bumper crop but no takers. They don’t seem to scare any small birds here but then they aren’t competing on the feeders. Our goldfinches seem completely unbothered by them, I’ve seen them sharing a tree. But then the goldfinches seem unbothered by any of the larger birds, magpies,crows, jackdaws.
Just seen a pair of Bullfinches eyeing up my cherry tree! Gorgeous birds, and I don't mind them having a go at my sparse cherry crop. Apparently that serial wife-abuser Henry V111 passed a law rewarding anyone who killed a Bullfinch a penny per bird, to try to protect the orchards of England from being stripped bare by flocks of them. They're currently on the RSPB's 'Amber' list - in decline, though not yet endangered.
Didn't know they were on the amber list @Tinkerton . They come in the garden now and again here, and I often see them in the hedgerows [hawthorn mainly] when I'm out, but there's plenty around. Again, the nearby NT garden means there's good habitat. With you on the HenryV111 description. Nothing much has changed either...
We have three pairs of resident bullfinches here. And now we have the next generation too. Until this year I hardly saw a single plum blossom pollinated and set. They were all picked off and chewed before they opened. But this year, quite by chance, I discovered that a hanging tray of mixed sunflower hearts and suet pellets, kept topped up almost hourly, diverts their attention from the flower buds to the junk food. This year I have some plum fruits! But I know I’ll not get to eat any of them. The squirrels and the wasps and the blackbirds will have them all long before I can get any.
