We know they are here, but where did they come from? Where else do they occur? What are they doing here and what does the future hold for this species in South Africa?
Which bird species are we talking about? The answer is a very obvious, colourful and noisy bird – the Rose-ringed Parakeet Psittacula krameri. It’s a species that behaves differently from virtually any other in a group in which many members have suffered and gone extinct at the hand of man. The species is now well established in South Africa, although it is still concentrated in two major urban areas, Durban and Johannesburg/Pretoria.
According to the Handbook of Birds of the World, the species was described from Senegal in 1869 as Psittacus krameri by Scopoli and named for Wilhelm Kramer, an Austrian zoologist. Since then, four subspecies have been recognised, two of which occur in Africa in a band south of the Sahara, from Mauritania and Senegal in the west to Eritrea and Djibouti in the east. The other two subspecies are found from Afghanistan to southern China, and in peninsular India and Sri Lanka. These areas cover a wide variety of habitats and climatic conditions, which is unusual as most bird species have fairly specific habitat requirements and preferences.
Having frequently encountered Rose-ringed Parakeets in the Durban area and knowing their African distribution, we naturally assumed that they would occur in relatively warm, subtropical conditions. It was therefore a surprise when we heard and saw them flying over the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show in London on what was – to Durbanites – a bitterly cold day.
This story is from the November - December 2020 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the November - December 2020 edition of African Birdlife.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
EXPLORING NEW HORIZONS
Keith Barnes, co-author of the new Field Guide to Birds of Greater Southern Africa, chats about the long-neglected birding regions just north of the Kunene and Zambezi, getting back to watching birds and the vulture that changed his life.
footloose IN FYNBOS
The Walker Bay Diversity Trail is a leisurely hike with a multitude of flowers, feathers and flavours along the way.
Living forwards
How photographing birds helps me face adversity
CAPE crusade
The Cape Bird Club/City of Cape Town Birding Big Year Challenge
water & WINGS
WATER IS LIFE. As wildlife photographer Greg du Toit knows better than most.
winter wanderer
as summer becomes a memory in the south, the skies are a little quieter as the migrants have returned to the warming north. But one bird endemic to the southern African region takes its own little winter journey.
when perfect isn't enough
Egg signatures and forgeries in the cuckoo-drongo arms race
Southern SIGHTINGS
The late summer period naturally started quietening down after the midsummer excitement, but there were still some classy rarities on offer for birders all over the subregion. As always, none of the records included here have been adjudicated by any of the subregion's Rarities Committees.
flood impact on wetland birds
One of the features of a warming planet is increasingly erratic rainfall; years of drought followed by devastating floods. Fortunately, many waterbirds are pre-adapted to cope with such extremes, especially in southern Africa where they have evolved to exploit episodic rainfall events in semi-arid and arid regions. But how do waterbirds respond to floods in areas where rainfall - and access to water - is more predictable? Peter Ryan explores the consequences of recent floods on the birds of the Western Cape's Olifants River valley.
a star is born
It’s every producer’s dream to plan a wildlife television series and pick the right characters before filming.
