Ring-necked Parakeet

Ring-necked Parakeet

(Indian/African Ring-necked Parakeet; Rose-ringed Parakeet)

Psittacula krameri

UK birds

Parrots

Photos downsized for internet; copyright e-barrett.com


Ring-necked parakeet, – female (nearest) & male (with black markings) – Hampstead Heath, London	Ring-necked parakeets – on garden feeder in NW London


Ring-necked parakeet camouflaged in tree top	Ring-necked parakeet by nesthole – Hampstead Heath


Ring-necked parakeets visiting bird feeders at London Wetland Centre, Barnes (above)

Only the adult male parakeet has the ringed neck after which the species is named: the ring is black at the front and pink on the nape. Both male and female have large hook-billed beaks, red on the upper part and black on the lower part. They have pink eye rings and a thin black line from top of beak (cere) to eye which looks like a frown. The long tails are blue-green on the topside and yellow-green on the underside. The bird with the white iris is a juvenile. They are gregarious, noisy birds.


Beaky enjoys break-dancing	They're acrobatic, destructive little beasts

The alien visitors	To show off the canary-yellow underwings, Polly sits on her imaginary perch

There are 2 main sub-species: the African Ringnecks (krameri kameri), which are slightly smaller (40 cm length) and the Indian Ringnecks (krameri manillensis ,42 cm). Most feral populations, including that in the UK, are the Indian Ring-necked Parakeets originating from the Indian sub-continent. Ironically, the Indian species is declining rapidly in the wild through trapping for the pet trade while the feral populations globally are increasing.


These male and female adult Ringnecks in Tenerife are smallish and may be the African variety (prevalent from North and West Africa to East Africa). Interestingly, they have all red beaks rather than the red top and black lower part usually seen in the Indian Ringnecks. The red is much pinker in the male and more blackish red in the young female than the bright red seen in the Alexandrine parakeets' all-red beaks.