A clickbait-laden headline led me to a paywalled article from the M&G this morning:
More like… budgie constraints, amirite?
But hard luck, M&G, because I got all the information I required from your first (free) paragraph. Ha!
We know that there is no money available to help control or eradicate these pests, because
a) there’s no money available for anything, and
b) the entire department budget went on “don’t do this” signs in Struisbaai.
On the actual birds, we don’t see much of any of them in Cape Town (yet). Allegedly, there are Indian House Crow colonies here, but they are nowhere near as widespread as in Durban and KZN. There are more mallards in Bakewell than in Kaapstad, and the Mynas and Parakeets haven’t really got this far either.
It’s a bit concerning to see the parakeets described as “popular” above. Sure, they’re nice to look at, but they are still nasty invasives, destroying the habitats of our indigenous wildlife. This is the same thing that squirrels do, and it’s why I will happily take a catapult to any I see around our garden.
These parakeets are a problem worldwide. But who is responsible?
That said, while these may all be terrible invasive avian species to have around, they’re still not annoying as some of our homegrown birds: the Egyptian Goose (not really from Egypt, not really a goose) and the F*****g Guineafowl being the worst birds ever to exist.
I’m less willing to take a catty to either of these two, because sadly, they do actually belong here, but I will (and have) happily taken the drone out of an evening to dislodge them from a prospective roosting spot within earshot of my bedroom.