Anyone lose an african ringneck?

MaeveD

Because there's one in my back garden

MaeveD

The poor guy is still in the tree out my back garden, I didn't think he'd survive the night with that freezing fog.

I've put out some seed and he was drinking from the water tray I have out for the wild birds yesterday... and I've contacted the zoo this am for advice, waiting on a call back.

Anyone else got any suggestions?

Wolfsberg

Are you sure that it is an African Ringneck as the vast majority of Ringnecks in captivity are Indian. You don't see many Africans, they are quite a bit smaller than the Indians.
Try catching him before the crows get him, although this will be hard as they are quite a nervous breed unless handreared. Wear decent gloves if you do have to handle him as they can give a nasty bite when they feel threatened.
What seed are you offering? A parakeet/ cockatiel mix should be alright as they will go for the sunflower seeds in that, there is no point in offering anything smaller or wildbird seed. Never offer bread.
Let me know if you need any advice or anything else.

PS I wouldn't worry about the weather. Most ringnecks are kept in aviaries as they don't make great pets for indoor cages, so I'd say it is used to the cold. Besides, there are flocks feral ringnecks spreading across south east England and they are doing very well. Believed to be up to around 30000 or 40000!

Sigma Force

Saw them on a doccie a couple of weeks back in the UK, could it be possible that there are some in Ireland too?

Poor bird, fingers crossed you can catch him.

MaeveD

I actually saw a similar documentary years ago about the parakeets in south east england, but I never heard of a wild population in Ireland, it's too cold surely... maybe global warming?

I haven't seen it this afternoon, but it was having no difficulty with the local crows and magpies yesterday. It also had no intentions of being caught, I couldn't get within 10ft of it. Don't worry, it's getting well fed (or the pigeons are), two different types of parrot mix. It landed in the right garden

Lauragoesmad

Hi OP,
Fair play for caring!:)
There is a brilliant man who lives at the entrace to the Charlmont estate on Griffith Avenue in Dublin and he takes in all types of birds. I have brought 2 pigeons and a sparrow to him before. I will try and find the number. He might be able to advise you on how to catch the little fella. Anyone else have the number handy?

Wolfsberg

I very much doubt that there is a colony here... yet! Ringnecks can be very destructive and can make light work of wooden aviary panels if they want... so I'd say it was just a single escapee.
OP is it a hen or cock? Is is green, blue, yellow or albino? Where are you? Why don't you contact the Irish Parrot Society to see if any members have lost a bird... you will find a phone number on the website.
PS the crows WILL eventually kill an individual escaped bird.

MaeveD

I've made loads of calls, no one is very interested, and there's none reported missing in the area. The bird is green and impossible to sex in the cold weather. A bird expert I know said lots of unwanted birds are being dumped and that netting it isn't an option as I'd have to watch all day.

The crows and magpies weren't interested for 2 days so I doubt they'll kill it now, the cold will though. All I can do is leave out seed and fresh water and keep an eye out.

Lauragoesmad, I'd really appreciate it if you could pm me with that phone number if you find it.

Wolfsberg

I should add that I have kept and in some cases around 25 or 30 kinds of finches and parrots So I've got a fair bit of experience. Believe me, crows will eventually kill any escaped bird, unless the escaped birds are in large flocks. Cold weather will not kill the bird unless temperatures are sub-zero for a couple of weeks in a row. It is pretty easy to sex a ringneck parakeet... mature cocks have a thin black band with a little line of pink going around their neck up into each side of the beak,this is called a nuchal collar. Hens don't have a nuchal collar. Unless the bird is a juvenile, in which case it will just look like a hen with shorter tail feathers.

MaeveD

A sad ending to this one, it didn't survive the cold last night, an elderly neighbour found it in a tree in their garden this morning. She was going to put it in her brown bin but I persuaded her not to, I'm going to bury it in our garden later... poor thing theres not a mark on it.

One good thing came out of this, she told me the kids on the road tried everthing they could to trap it the last few days and it seems everyone was feeding it too.