The invasion of parakeets between damage and noise: science asks citizens for help for too many parrots

The invasion of parakeets between damage and noise: science asks citizens for help for too many parrots


There are hundreds of them: gaudy and noisy, they take the gardens by storm in the area and capture the attention, especially of the children. But they are, above all, aliens. Why i monk parakeets who populate the Puglia, distributing themselves like wildfire starting from some incautious release, they are an allochthonous presence. Whose impact on ecosystems is significant. Now, to map the single individuals and to draw up a sort of "online register" of their voluminous nests (baskets of intertwined branches that can weigh more than 130 kg, weighing down on trees unfit to support them) they take the field - starting from Molfetta - the citizens. Collected by the project "Parakeets of Puglia"born from a series of associations (Terrae, Vivarch, Lipu and Ardea): just take a picture of the parrots, easily recognizable by their bright green livery and gray bib, or simply their nests and share your observation on the app iNaturalistcompletely free. It will be used to identify the nesting areas and estimate the number of colonies present.

"Drawing the potential fronts of species expansion, which has been reported in this corner of Puglia for over twenty years, including the speed with which it reproduces and the ability to coexist with other species and with the agricultural land in particular", he explains Catherine Rosellicouncilor with responsibility for the environment for the Municipality of Molfetta.

Once again it is the so-called citizen science, therefore, that will lend a hand to research: there will be awareness-raising days and themed initiatives and in the meantime a first census of the population will take shape, piece by piece. Myiopsitta monachuswhich has been crowding the urban parks in Molfetta for some time, starting with Lama Martinaand which has spread abundantly in a substantial part of Puglia.

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"Among the significant consequences of its proliferation in the city are the widespread nuisance to citizenswith the continuous vocalizations of the parrots, ei damage the gardensbut also theweakening of the tree stockon which the nests of parakeets rest", explains the ornithologist Rosario Balestrieri, among the researchers involved in the initiative. "In 2010 she was singled out, in the only one Molfetta (but, with the metropolitan area of ​​Bari, the area of ​​the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani is also affected by the phenomenon, ed) one population of over 700 individuals. - he continues - We believe that the project that has just started will now count several thousand".

Not an isolated case, the Apulian one. "Not at all," he nods Leonardo Ancillotto, which participates in the project with the Research Institute on Terrestrial Ecosystems of the National Research Council (CNR-IRET). "In the Italian panorama, nucleuses of monk parakeets are scattered throughout the peninsula, from Milan to Bari, with colonies also on the islands, from Cagliari to Cataniaalthough the largest population is certainly that of Romefor which in 2021 we estimated the presence of just under 6 thousand individuals (even more are the ring-necked parakeets, ed), a number certainly lower than the real one and today certainly already to be updated, given the dizzying growth of recent years".

What impact do they have on the territory?

Meanwhile, the debate is open on the impact of such a large alien species from a numerical point of view. "We still know little about how these populations affect the ecosystem, especially with regards to the local biodiversitybut it is possible that they could negatively affect some native plant species, damaging the plant and consuming its seeds.

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What we do know, above all from experiences in cities where parakeet populations have become particularly numerous, is that the monk parakeet is a voracious consumer of cultivated plantsalso causing particularly significant losses - over 50% - to small and medium productions of vegetables And fruit trees. In this sense, it therefore represents at least an economic threat, especially at a local level, against urban agricultural activities or those adjacent to the city territory. Further damage can be caused by this alle species ornamental trees from which he often goes to pick twigs for the nest buildingwhich in turn can reach such a weight as to break the large branches on which they rest - with obvious consequences for the plant health and for the public safety of citizens - and to other infrastructures - when, for example, the nest is built on antennas and light poles".

Can the parrot boom be halted?

Once the census is completed, of course, the basic question will remain: how to intervene to put an end to the proliferation of the species? "Currently - explains Ancillotto - there is no shared strategy at European level for the management of these animals in places of introduction, but the recommendation to States is, in the meantime, to prevent further introductions. The Spainfor example, has recently banned the possession and trade of the species in full. In most cases the populations are so abundant and widespread that it is difficult to put into practice any management method, so probably the most feasible way is that of do not favor its proliferation, at least from a food point of viewsensitizing citizens so that they do not feed the parakeets, and discouraging the formation of new colonies through removal of new nests under construction - thus eliminating them before reproduction takes place - in order to reduce the speed of expansion of the species in the territory. In this sense - concludes the researcher - the participatory 'surveillance' of citizens is a fundamental tool for monitoring the species and possibly contributing not only to scientific knowledge, but also to the possible management of this problematic species".

Citizens "allied" to read the alien invasions

And it's not the first time that the citizen science takes the field to monitor - effectively - the spread of alien species on the national territory. Between these, "AlienFish"which asks citizens and fishermen to share observations, in the Italian seas, of specimens of species such as the speckled puffer fishThe scorpion fishThe dark rabbitfish and the striped rabbitfish. "With more than encouraging results", as confirmed by the manager Francesco Tiralongoresearcher at the Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences of the University of Catania.

And a project that has seen a significant involvement of the population is called "Open Science": it was created by the Laboratory of Genetics and Control of Vector Insects of the Biology Department of the Federico II University of Naples and aims to free the island of Procida from Tiger mosquitoweed species. Included in the Procida Italian Capital of Culture 2022 program, the project - in the context of which sterile males bred in the laboratory will be released on the territory - started with a first phase of census of the pest population. To do so, the citizens of the island have installed them in their gardens 500 'gravity traps'devices able to capture mosquitoes for the census phase. By sharing the "captures" with the researchers: a symbolic reward for their contribution came from a series of gifts made by the students of the New Technologies of Art (NTA) laboratory of the Academy of Fine Arts in Naples.



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