18 year-old Ring-necked Parakeet

A Ring-necked Parakeet ringed in its year of hatching at Bedfont Lakes, Gtr London in November 2007 was found dead 10km away in Bushy Park, Gtr London in March 2026, 18 years and 3 months later.

This makes it by far the oldest UK Ring-necked Parakeet recorded by the BTO ringing scheme. The previous record of 8 years was also a bird ringed by RRG.

Ed: Of a UK total of c.3,000 Ring-necked Parakeets ringed since 1980, 680 have been ringed by RRG, 387 of which were at a private garden in Heston, Gtr London.  Parakeets can typically live up to 20-30 years in the wild. The low UK ringing longevity reflects the recent establishment of the UK population and the relatively low numbers caught and ringed each year.

 

New Year...New Birds!

The wintry start to 2026 produced a handful of species that we don't often get the chance to ring. These included a Fieldfare, a Starling and six Linnets. These were the first Fieldfare and Linnets to be ringed by RRG since 2019 and 2021 respectively. The Starling was the first to be ringed outside of an RRG garden since 2020.

European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) LK33464, age 5, male. Maidenhead, Berkshire.

 

Fieldfare (Turdus pilaris) LK33463, age 6, female. Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Additionally, during January, the Group ringed 13 Redwing, 1 Cetti's Warbler, 1 Goldfinch, 1 Siskin, 6 Chaffinch and 8 Reed Bunting. After not catching any during 2025, a male Yellowhammer added some more variety to the usual Blue Tits and Great Tits.

Eurasian Siskin (Spinus spinus) AZJ8146, age 5, male. Bedfont, Greater London. 

Note the 3 old greater coverts, which were grown in the nest before fledging.