Yahoo News Parakeet ‘crime map’ debunks myths surrounding how they were introduced to UK
The mystery of how parakeets were introduced to the UK has gone on for decades - but scientists have now debunked some of the most common myths.
Theories that the brightly-coloured bird were refugees from the film set of Humphrey Bogart classic The African Queen, shot in Ealing in 1951, or that a pair were released by Hendrix on Carnaby Street, central London, in the 1960s, have generally been held up as how they first arrived.
But using geographic profiling, scientists mapped half a century of sightings and found no evidence to support any of the myths surrounding the birds' origins in the UK, according to the study published in the Journal of Zoology.
Another theory suggests the winged-creatures - described as the “new pigeons” - kept at Syon Park escaped in the 1970s when a plane crashed through the aviary roof, while another blames damage to aviaries during the Great Storm of 1987.
This is despite sightings dating back to the 1869s, scientists say.
A new spatial analysis, backed by an extensive search of archived newspaper articles, found that Britain's booming parakeet population has actually grown from numerous small-scale accidental and intentional pet releases.
Researchers from from Queen Mary University of London, UCL, and Goldsmiths, University of London conclude that intentional releases may have been encouraged from 1929-1931, and in 1952 by dramatic media coverage of fatal "parrot fever" outbreaks.
Scientists used geographic profiling to analyse spatial patterns of parakeet sightings.
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The statistical technique was originally developed in criminology to prioritise large lists of suspects in cases of serial crime.
Worton Hall Studios, where the Bogart and Katharine Hepburn classic was filmed, Syon Park, and Carnaby Street did not show up prominently in the geoprofile of more than 5,000 unique records dating from 1968 to 2018.
Geographic profiling typically maps crime sites, like the location of murder victims' bodies.
This is overlaid on a map of the area of interest to produce a geoprofile and narrow down the area where the perpetrator is likely to live or work.
When applied to biological data, the model can identify the origin sites of diseases or introduction sites of invasive species, like the parakeet.
Lead author Steven Le Comber said: "The fun legends relating to the origins of the UK's parakeets are probably not going to go away any time soon.
"However, our research only found evidence to support the belief of most ornithologists: the spread of parakeets in the UK is likely a consequence of repeated releases and introductions, and nothing to do with publicity stunts by musicians or movie stars.”
