My Favourite
Bird – Rose Ringed Parakeet
- Anshuman Deka, Class - VII, Minerva Academy, Mayong
My favourite bird is Rose Ringed Parakeet, called as Bhatou sorai in Assamese. Rose Ringed Parakeet is a very beautiful bird, its feathers are green and it has a red, curved beak. Round the neck of the bird, there are black rings. Over all it is a lovely looking bird.
It eats grains, fruits, leaves, seeds, nuts, pear, mango, and boiled rice, etc. The Rose Ring Parakeet is a talking bird, it can imitate human voice. It is found in almost all the warm countries; it generally lives in the hollows of trees. Some people keep it in small cages which is not good. Some people train these birds to do interesting acts.
This short note on Rose Ringed Parakeet (Psittacula krameri), from Anshuman Deka inspires us to provide some interesting facts about this bird species.
Distribution:
This tropical bird has a wide native range in Africa and South Asia (Indian subcontinent). Very well adapted to new environments and varied climatic conditions, this species got introduced in many different parts of the world.
Ecosystem role (In native range):
Rose Ringed Parakeet play important role in seed dispersal, apart from aiding in the germination of many seeds by cracking its outer tough cover with the help of its beak. The foraging habit of this species especially facilitate the branching of trees in a forest, this takes place due to breaking off and discarding of the apical buds of new branches on trees where these birds gather to roost and forage. This leads to profuse branching of the trees and consequently creates abundant foliage and healthy canopy in forests.
Threats:
While this species is listed as least concern by the IUCN, the feral populations of Rose Ringed Parakeets, i.e., sizeable population of naturalized Rose Ringed Parakeet found around the world in England, Netherland, Belgium, Germany, USA, South Africa, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, UAE, Oman, different parts of Europe are acting as invasive species that affect native biodiversity of these countries. These feral populations have adapted to life in ecosystems to which this species is not native. These populations often descended from pets that have escaped or were released from captivity and got naturalized in the new environment with great adaptive abilities.