Rose-ringed parakeet

The rose-ringed parakeet, also known as the ring-necked parakeet, is a medium-sized parrot in the genus Psittacula, of the family Psittaculidae. It has a disjunct native range in tropical northern Africa and the Indian subcontinent, and is now introduced into many other parts of the world where feral populations have established themselves having been bred for the exotic pet trade and then escaped.
The species is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because its population appears to be increasing, but its popularity as a pet and unpopularity with farmers have reduced its numbers in some parts of its native range.
One of the few parrot species that have successfully adapted to living in disturbed habitats, it has withstood the onslaught of urbanisation and deforestation. As a popular pet species, escaped birds have colonised a number of cities around the world, including populations in northern and western Europe. They can live in a variety of climates outside their native range, and are able to survive low winter temperatures in northern Europe.

Taxonomy

Four subspecies are recognised, with two in Africa and two in Asia. While they differ little in plumage, genetic evidence from studies in 2004, and 2016–2019, suggest they should probably be treated in two separate species, as the African and Asian populations are paraphyletic with respect to the Echo parakeet P. eques of Mauritius and Réunion; the Asian populations are more closely related to P. eques than they are to African P. krameri. The subspecies differ in size, with the Asian birds being larger, and larger-billed, than the African; and most usefully for identification, in the pattern and tone of red and black on the bill.

Male	Female	Scientific name	English name	Distribution	Bill pattern
		P. k. krameri	African rose-ringed parakeet	West Africa in Guinea, Senegal, and southern Mauritania, east to western Uganda and southern Sudan, north to Egypt.	Upper mandible dark red with black tip; lower black with some red at the base
		P. k. parvirostris	Abyssinian rose-ringed parakeet	Northwestern Somalia, west across northern Ethiopia to Sennar state, Sudan	Upper mandible dark red with limited black tip; lower all-black
		P. k. borealis	Boreal rose-ringed parakeet	Northern Indian subcontinent north of 20°N, in Pakistan, northern India, Nepal, Bangladesh and northern and central Burma	Upper mandible bright red with no black; lower all-red or with some black markings
		P. k. manillensis	Indian rose-ringed parakeet	Southern India south of 20°N, Sri Lanka	Upper mandible bright red sometimes with black on the tip; lower black

The feral and naturalised populations in Great Britain, Germany and Spain, and likely those worldwide, in Australia, much of Europe, the United States, and other western countries, are derived from an interbreeding mixture of P. k. manillensis and P. k. borealis; there is no evidence of any African origin birds naturalised in Britain, despite these being known to have featured in the birds imported for the cagebird trade. Escaped individual P. k. krameri in Germany have failed interbred with feral P. k. manillensis / P. k. borealis, preferring instead to try breeding with other even less related parrots. It is also suggested that the Asian populations are better adapted to survival in the cooler climates where most feral birds are.
The 2016–2019 genetic study suggested creating the new genus Alexandrinus for this species and the Echo parakeet, with three species, A. eques, A. manillensis, and A. krameri. Some organisations, including the IUCN, have accepted this new genus, while others have not, retaining the broader treatment of Psittacula.

Etymology

The genus name Psittacula is a diminutive of Latin psittacus, "parrot", and the specific krameri commemorates the German naturalist Wilhelm Heinrich Kramer.

Description

Rose-ringed parakeets are in length, including the tail feathers, a large portion of their total length. The folded wing length is in African birds, and in Asian birds, and the tail length is in African birds, and in Asian birds; within Asian birds, P. k. borealis has longer tails than P. k. manillensis, and in all, males have longer tails than females. Weight ranges from 51–93 g in African birds, and 104–143 g in Asian birds. The rose-ringed parakeet is sexually dimorphic; adult males have a pink and black neck ring, and the female, and immature birds of both sexes, either show no neck rings, or display shadow-like pale to dark grey neck rings. Both sexes have a distinctive green colour in the wild with a red beak and blue tail. It is a noisy species with an unmistakable squawking call. They are herbivorous, and non-migratory.

Distribution

In Africa, the species occurs in a narrow belt across the full width of the continent between about 4° to 17° N latitude, roughly coinciding with the Sudanian savannas; and in Asia in the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka from 6° to 35° N latitude in the foothills of the Himalaya, and from the Indus River valley in Pakistan east to the Irrawaddy River valley in Myanmar.
Since the late 20th century, the rose-ringed parakeet has successfully colonised many other countries due to escapes from captivity and deliberate releases. It now breeds further north than any other parrot species. It has established itself on a large scale in Germany, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, and the UK. See Feral Birds section below. This shows that the risk of parakeet establishment may rise further as a result of decreasing frost days due to global warming, rising urbanisation, and rising human populations. Because of the significant separate parakeet imports in Europe, researchers are capable of investigating the widely held hypothesis of climate matching and human activity at the species level.

Ecology and behaviour

Diet

In the wild, rose-ringed parakeets usually feed on buds, nectar, fruit, vegetables, nuts, berries, seeds, grains, and insects. Wild flocks also fly several miles to forage in farmlands and orchards, causing extensive damage. Feral parakeets will regularly visit gardens and other locations near human habitation, taking food from bird feeders.
In India, they feed on cereal grains, and during winter also on pigeon peas. In Egypt during the spring, they feed on mulberry, and in summer they feed on dates and nest inside palm trees and eat from sunflower and corn fields.
In captivity, rose-ringed parakeets will take a large variety of food and can be fed on a number of fruit, vegetables, pellets, seeds, and even small amounts of cooked meat for protein. Oils, salts, chocolate, alcohol, and other preservatives should be avoided.

Reproduction

In northwestern India, Indian rose-ringed parakeets form pairs from September to December. They do not have life partners, and often breed with another partner during the following breeding season. During this cold season, they select and defend nest sites, thus avoiding competition for sites with other birds. Feeding on winter pea crops provides the female with nutrients necessary for egg production. From April to June, they care for their young. Fledglings are ready to leave the nest before monsoon.
Seasonal changes in testicular activity, plasma luteinising hormone, estradiol, testosterone, and 5 α-dihydrotestosterone were related to pair bond formation, nest building, nest defense, and parental behaviour in free living Indian rose-ringed parakeets in northwest India. The parakeets are able to reproduce in the winter because it allows them to avoid competing with other birds for nesting places, postpone having young during the monsoon season, and take use of the winter pea harvest, which provides the female with extra nutrients for egg formation. Indian ring-necked parakeet supplements that contain calcium carbonate, vitamin D3, and other minerals and vitamins that support calcium absorption are often used by parakeet owners and breeders to prevent egg-laying problems and brittle bones.

Aviculture

Rose-ringed parakeets are popular as pets and they have a long history in aviculture. The ancient Greeks kept the Indian subspecies P. krameri manillensis, and the ancient Romans kept the African subspecies P. krameri krameri. Captive bred birds have multiple colour mutations which include turquoise, cinnamon, olive, white, blue, violet, grey and yellow. Colour mutations of the Indian rose-ringed parakeet subspecies have become widely available in recent years. A blue colour morph mutation of the rose-ringed parakeet is also commonly kept in aviculture. Birds that display this mutation have solid light blue feathers instead of green.

Mimicry

Both males and females have the ability to mimic human speech. First, the bird listens to its surroundings, and then it copies the voice of the human speaker. Some people hand-raise rose-ringed parakeet chicks for this purpose. Such parakeets then become quite tame and receptive to learning. They have extremely clear speech and are one of the best talking parrots.

Feral birds

A popular pet, the rose-ringed parakeet has escaped or been released in a wide range of cities around the world, giving it an environment with few predators, and where their preferred diet of seeds, nuts, fruit, and berries is available from suburban gardens and bird feeders.
Feral populations are established in Europe, the U.S., South Africa, the Middle East, and Japan. There are stable populations in Florida, California and Hawaiʻi. Self-sustaining populations are also found in Turkey, mostly in Ankara, İzmir, Istanbul, Tunis, Tripoli and Tehran. It is also found throughout Lebanon, Israel, Iran, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman. A small number of escaped birds are present in Australia.
The specimens in these naturalised populations often represent intra-specific hybrids, originally between varying numbers of the subspecies manillensis, borealis, and/or krameri, along with some inter-specific hybrids with naturalised Psittacula eupatria.
Where introduced, rose-ringed parakeets may affect native biodiversity and human economy and wellness.