Parakeets in Cologne

Walking along the banks of the river Rhine in Cologne, once cannot escape hearing the incessant chatter of the parakeets in the trees there. Looking up one can see the specks of green and the familiar profile as the birds fly around. It reminds me of home where we have a lot of parakeets that make their home in the coconut, mango, gulmohar and rain trees all around.

What are these tropical birds doing in the middle of Europe, one might wonder. They were brought here a long time ago as pets, some of them escaped to form a colony and managed to not simply survive the conditions here but thrive and have spread to a lot of cities along the Rhine - now they can be found in Cologne, Bonn and Düsseldorf among other cities.

They are an invasive species but are still protected by the law.

Here is a ZDF documentary explaining the history of these birds here and a blog post (both in German) talking about it as well.

tags: #nature #germany