Breeding birds: 8,600 pairs
Ring-necked parakeets are also known as rose-ringed parakeets. They have greenish-yellow plumage with a long-graduated tail and hooked pink bill.
Male ring-necked parakeets have black bibs, narrow black and pink collars and a pink lines that extends across the nape and a blue crescent on the back of the crown. They have darker green flight feathers and bluish-green feathers on their tails.
Female ring-necked parakeets have duller emerald collars with no coloured markings on the back of their heads.
Juvenile ring-necked parakeets are similar to females but with yellower plumage, their tails are shorter and bills have a pale tip.
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Ring-necked parakeets build their nests in the hole of a tree or in high-up cavities such as a crevice in a wall. They will also use discarded nests. They line their nests with bark and feathers.
Ring-necked parakeets lay 3-4 smooth white eggs which are incubated by the female alone for 22-24 days. Females are sometimes helped by the males to raise the chicks which fledge about 40-45 days after hatching.
Ring-necked parakeets eat fruit, berries, seeds and nuts in the wild, but they will also visit gardens to eat food and kitchen scraps offered on bird tables and feeders.
Ring-necked parakeets are found mainly in the south-east of England, in particular in Surrey, Kent, Sussex and London.
Britain's Birds
RSPB Handbook Of British Birds
Collins Bird Guide
Ring-necked parakeets are the only species of parrots that live wild in the UK and are descended from pets that escaped or were deliberately released from captivity.
One Response
There is one in a garden eating the flower buds on an ornamental cherry tree. It is in Prestbury, East Cheshire.