BirdingNZ.net

I live right in the middle of that so called notorious crime center of NZ called Sth Auckland.
I own and Admin www.kakariki.net
If you want to know about my expertise in red and yellow kakariki, kings Crimsons and other exoric species there are forums, alums and galleries

I had seen a wild red-fronted parakeet in mid 1980s at Kelston school when I were a boy.

Chances are they where escapees from a breeder that used to live near by, sadly now past on.

If you are really interested..want to have a look at our setup..which is now far more extensive than in my album at kakariki.net..you are welcome, a chat over coffee while feeding 2 pair of breeding pair of kakariki a bit of mint they use for 'insectide and pruning, sitting on eggs and young flapping around
Email me thru this site or web master at kakariki.net...top left of the page.

This thread pretty well covers the subject of ring necks..proven to be an issue in many other countries as well
http://www.birdingnz.net/forum/viewtopi ... lit=parrot

I have to say a few things here:

Firstly, why must people get so fixated on the physical appearances of our birds! Admittedly we don't have the colours of birds that some countries have, but man do we have cool and interesting bird species.
There is beauty in even the most ugly species of birds. This is exactly why people don't like to protect vultures, yet they are amazing in their ability to detect a carcass. If you took the time to study any species of bird in detail, you would find at least one fascinating feature about that bird which makes it totally unique and special in its own way. A kaka for example may appear to be a drab brown coloured bird. This is not correct at all (just Google photos of Kaka). If you see the underwings of this bird you will notice it has striking orange coloured feathers. Not to mention a personality to match that of the kea. Kaka are a bird that I could spend a lifetime watching. They are very intelligent and inquisitive birds. They most certainly DO fly long distances inside and outside of forest areas. They are also no longer only forest parrots. They have adapted to live in quite urban habitats as well as the forests. The kaka near Morrinsville for example are several kms from native forest. In this habitat they feed on walnuts, apples, tree sap, insects etc etc.

We must be careful with exotic cage bird releases. These have not arrived by their own 'steam', they do not belong in this environment and may certainly have an effect on our native species. I personally have little experience with ring-necked parakeets. But if it is thought that they, like the rainbow lorikeets, pose a significant threat to our native species. Then I am all for their removal. We can't perpetuate the colonial mentality of changing the birdlife according to our ideas on what pretty birds we want to see. These exotic species belong only in cages in NZ and wild in their respective countries.
I used to breed canaries for many years, and while I do like the look of this species, it does not belong here in wild NZ!

Totally agree

Been doing a bit of diiging around

In spite of Docs best efforts they seem to be hanging on.
Doc realy needs to get rid of these, they, lorries and rosella have a huge impact on our native species, espec our smaller parrots like the kakariki...in my books a far bigger impact than possums stoats rats etc
If the guys down their cant deal to them they should call in a couple of the DoC guys from Auckland to sort it out.

Actually spoke to DoC and sounds like they're not onto it yet. May have been EBOP that had a few posters up at the Okere Falls Store (noticed it whilst supping a german beer or two) - concern would have been more commercial than conservation - impacts on fruit growers etc etc etc ...

DoC down therev a while back contacted experts in DoC, they where consulted with, offerered experise, help and equipment, which was never replied to....and nothing ever followed up

So at the end of the day, who ever was dealling with the issue at DoC down that way, just cant be bothered to do anything about it....they would have to be awhere of major issues with these birds in other countries....because of consultation that took place within DoC
So why was this not dealt with while a small issue ?
And Why is it being left ..especially after the start of another breeding season?
Why is it being ignored untill it is going to be a major budget issue to fix, if it can be fixed at all?
Someone at DoC has not bothered to read the sign on the side of their Company car.....

Re Rose-ringed Parakeets the population in the UK has grown in the past 3-4 decades from a tiny population mostly in the western suburbs of London to a vastly burgeoning and spreading one. The species is common in the Indian subcontinent and that is probably where they best belong - brightening up their forests, farmland and towns. They do well there despite a huge suite of predators - nest, fledged chick and adult.

Kea aren't really alpine parrots either as such. Their preference is for beech forests and their main range/habitat has merely been pruned back into the more mountainous areas probably due to different levels of predation pressure. It's a situation akin to some other species such as Blue Duck (prefer larger rivers over mountain streams) and Takahe (prefer scrubby/open mosaic habitats over alpine tussocklands). There are quite a few areas where Kea can still be seen at or close to sea level - e.g. Haast, Okarito Forest (a podocarp forest), and the SW part of the Kahurangi NP.