Wiebke Rost

This ring-necked parakeet is enjoying an early morning lunch by eating the flowers of the cherry tree in our yard. Ring-necked parakeets are spreading in German cities, especially in North-Rhine Westphalia and are getting into conflict with humans. E.g. Cologne began in 2018 to actively expel the birds from its city center. Meanwhile ornithologists suggest beneficial effects of the parakeets, since their breeding burrows are being reused by other birds, e.g. stock doves, which are listed as threatened. The parakeets breed earlier than our native birds. During autumn there about 3000 parakeets, crows and jackdaws gathering at Düsseldorf’s ‘Kö’.

Tags: alexandersittich, animal photography, animals, birds, cherry blossoms, cherry flowers, cherry tree, early bird, früher vogel, halsbandsittich, morgenstund, morning sun, mornings, parrot, psittacula krameri, urban, urban animals