IDENTIFICATION

VOCALISATIONS

Harsh screeching calls similar to those of Alexandrine Parakeet though usually slightly drier.

DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE

This century regular observations of Rose-ringed Parakeet have centred on the large well-wooded and long-established Kowloon and HK Parks and their environs. Recent records elsewhere have come from widespread locations on HK Island and the New Territories, including Lantau, with a post 2015 cluster from the Long Valley area where small parties frequent fruit trees in farmland. However, it appears to be in decline, as it was reported from 0.6% of squares in the 1993-96 breeding season survey and 0.3% of squares in the 2001-05 winter survey and just 0.1% of squares in both the 2016-19 breeding season and winter surveys.

OCCURRENCE

Rose-ringed Parakeet is a resident species throughout its native range, which is remote from HK; thus there is no doubt that the population here is descended from ex-captive birds. The earliest HK species with an established extralimital feral population, Rose-ringed Parakeet was first noted by Vaughan and Jones (1913) who considered that it was well-established on HK Island. Accordingly, Herklots (1953) who observed that it was not seen by Kershaw (1904), concluded that it must have arrived or been introduced at some time after 1903, the last year to which Kershaw’s observations relate. A statement by Webster and Phillipps (1976) that Rose-ringed Parakeet was ‘introduced about 1903’ appears to refer to this conclusion, rather than being a reference to a more definitive first arrival date.

Carey et al. (2001) detailed the changes in status observed during the 20th century: a slow increase up to around 1940, a decline in the 1950s, then a substantial increase in the late 1960s with peak numbers observed in the 1970s (the highest count on record being a flock of 87 seen flying into a communal roost at Happy Valley on 13 June 1970). At that time, Rose-ringed Parakeets became relatively widespread with frequent reports from HK Island and the New Territories, including flocks of 50 in Stanley/Aberdeen in 1979, 70 in the Deep Bay area, 40 in Yuen Long and 60 in the Lam Tsuen/Kam Tin area in 1980. Subsequently numbers fell, the last record of a flock in the Deep Bay area being a count of 32 birds in 1991, and numbers in HK remained very low throughout the subsequent decade.

Since 1998 the population of Rose-ringed Parakeet has remained at a low level with only a handful of records in most years, albeit the ‘established’ populations in HK and Kowloon Parks have been underreported in some years. For example, whilst no records were submitted to HKBWS in 1999, 2007-08 and 2010 there are eBird reports from Kowloon Park in all of these years (eBird 2023). Peak counts during this recent period include 16 at Long Valley on 5 January 2017 (the highest count this century), 13 in Kowloon Park, also in 2017, and six in HK Park in 2018 with all counts from other sites being of four birds or less. It is probably too early to draw the conclusion that the slightly higher numbers reported during 2015-18 indicate that the population is now showing some signs of a recovery, especially as 2019-20 showed a return to a very low level.

The reasons for the population decline are unknown It was suggested by Andersson (2021) that it may have been excluded from nest sites by the expanding population of Yellow-crested Cockatoos in one of its former strongholds around HK Park in Central. Whilst such exclusion seems plausible and receives some support from her observations of interactions at potential nest cavities, such a cause does not explain the decline elsewhere in HK.

The HK population of Rose-ringed Parakeet is resident and isolated, though Chalmers (1986) referred to flocks crossing Deep Bay to Shenzhen at dusk in March 1978 and October 1983, presumably heading to roost, something which does not appear to have been observed since. However, whilst there seems to be no reason to doubt the conclusion of Carey et al. (2001) that the increase in the population in the mid twentieth century was largely driven by survival of locally-bred birds, albeit supplemented by continuing recruitment of ex-captive individuals, it is not certain that this remains the case today. Whilst the pattern of records suggests that a case can be made for concluding that the HK Park population has persisted, albeit at a low level, since the 1990s, what of the Kowloon Park population and the recent cluster of records in the Long Valley area? In both of these instances, an independent ex-captive origin, perhaps augmented by these birds breeding in the wild, is at least if not more likely than the populations being derived largely from long-established locally-bred birds.

BREEDING

Despite its (presumed) regular breeding in HK and Kowloon Parks, almost nothing has been recorded of breeding behaviour in HK and there remains only one substantiated breeding record: in 1983 a pair nested in a hole in a retaining wall in the car park of St. John’s Cathedral, Central (Carey et al. 2001).

BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET

Rose-ringed Parakeet is an arboreal frugivore/granivore. Herklots (1953) noted that they devour the flowers of Bombax ceiba and the fruit of Celtis sinensis and Ficus microcarpa and observed that birds moved around the north of HK Island in response to fruit supply and occasionally flew to Nathan Road, Kowloon to forage on Ficus microcarpa.

Rose-ringed Parakeet is highly arboreal and, if not seen in flight, is usually observed in large trees, where it sometimes perches conspicuously, for example when eating the flowers of Bombax ceiba, but can also be very inconspicuous within the canopy. Whilst perched birds are often silent, flying birds are typically vocal, often drawing attention by their calls. It is not unusual to see single birds, especially now that numbers are so low, but Rose-ringed Parakeets are typically highly social and spend much of their time in flocks except during the breeding season. Most high counts relate to flocks seen in flight, often when flying to roost. Roosts appear to be communal, presumably in trees, but there appear to be no observations of roosting behaviour in HK.

RANGE & SYSTEMATICS

There are two disjunct natural populations, one occurring across Sahelian sub-Saharan Africa, and one in the Indian subcontinent extending eastwards into Myanmar and extreme western Yunnan (Liu and Chen 2021). In addition, feral populations have become established in many parts of the world, especially in the Middle East and Europe (Juniper and Parr 1998). Despite the statement by Juniper and Parr (1998) that introduced Rose-ringed Parakeets occur in Macau and parts of southeast China, the HK population appears to be the only extant long-established population in China, though there were a number of reports (of up to eight birds) from parks in central Guangzhou during 2018 to 2023 (eBird 2023) suggesting that a small population may be present there.

There are four races, two in Africa and two in the Indian subcontinent, with the race P. k. borealis extending to Myanmar and extreme western Yunnan (Liu and Chen 2021). Juniper and Parr (1998) state that birds in ‘Macau and parts of SE China are thought to be’ P. k. borealis; however, examination of photographs of birds from HK on eBird (eBird 2023) suggests that they have an entirely black lower mandible, stated by Juniper and Parr (1998) to be a feature of P. k. manillensis from southern India and Sri Lanka.

CONSERVATION STATUS

IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend increasing.