Birds causing a flap (From Watford Observer)

Birds causing a flap

5:13pm Thursday 28th August 2008

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Villagers are getting in a flap following the latest birds to take up residency in the tree tops of Croxley Green - a large flock of exotic, and particularly noisy, parrots.

The tropical birds, thought to be Ringnecked Parakeets, were first spotted flying over the village earlier this month.

However, after seemingly taking a liking to what they saw, the birds, which are most commonly found in Africa and Asia, seem to have taken up roost.

Anna Windsor, of Watford Road in Croxley Green, says she first saw the birds three weeks ago but the flock has now taken up residency in trees close to Rickmansworth School.

She said: “There was initially a flock of about ten but they are there every morning and evening now.

“You know they have arrived because they make a tremendous squawk.”

The birds are almost as big as a magpie and have long-tails. However, they are particularly distinctive because of their bright, toxic green feathers, red beaks and a pink and black ring around their face and neck.

The RSPB estimates almost 5,000 Ringnecked Parakeets are now present in the south east of England.

There is a large flock of the birds, thought to total almost 2,000, in the Kingston and Twickenham area - prompting people to dub the birds as the “Kingston Parakeets”.

Mystery surrounds how the avian immigrants, the UK’s only naturalised parrots, found themselves in this country.

Some put their growing numbers in the south of England down a tale of rock superstar Jimi Hendrix releasing a pair in Carnaby Street in the 1960s.

Another theory puts their residency down to the birds escaping from Ealing Studios, in West London, during the filming of the movie The African Queen, in 1951.

Others say the birds may have escaped from an aviary during the 1987 hurricane.

Whatever the reason, Claire Gray, of the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust, says residents may get used to seeing - and hearing - the birds.

Claire said: “They have been known in the Richmond and Surrey area for many years and I have heard sightings of them in ones and twos in and around the area.

“They are definitely becoming more and more common and they seem to be coping with our winters now.”

However, as the number of the fluorescent birds increases in the UK, so too does their notoriety.

Asked whether the birds should be regarded as a welcome addition to the area or viewed as pests, Claire added: “It depended on your point of view.

“They are, like most parrots, quite noisy. And they do rather like trees with fruits on them, so people with cherry trees find them a little annoying because they will just strip it off.

“But other people seem to like because they are very exotic looking.”

Austin Hollands, of the Watford branch of the RSPB, said it was unusual to see so many of the birds in the town.

Austin said he had seen the birds in pairs, or even on their own, but rarely saw them in a large flock.

He said: “A few months ago I think it would have been unusual, but they are moving into the area.

“There is a roost in Twickenham and they are now slowly moving out.”

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