Indian Ringneck
The ring appears only on the males, and not until around their third year. Clear talkers, and among the parrots most likely to pick up a whole sentence.
Overview
The Indian ringneck, or rose ringed parakeet, is 38 to 42 cm long with more than half of that being tail, weighs about 137 g, and lives up to 34 years in captivity. It is native to central Africa and across southern Asia, and it is one of the great colonisers.
Feral populations are established in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Iran, Israel, Japan, Singapore, Kenya, South Africa, the United States and the Caribbean. Nearly all of that started with escaped and released pets.
Temperament
Independent, clever and famous for going through a difficult adolescence. A hand raised ringneck that was sweet at six months often turns nippy and standoffish around a year old, and comes back out of it with consistent handling rather than with a break from it.
They are exceptional talkers with unusually clear diction, and they pick up phrases fast. The male grows the dark ring around the neck at about three years old, so a young bird cannot be sexed by looking at it.
Care and grooming
A pellet base with vegetables. About 80 percent of the wild diet is seed, which is exactly why a captive one should not be given seed as the whole of it: seed diets are deficient in vitamin A, in lysine and methionine, and in calcium.
They are strong chewers for their size and need a steady supply of destructible wood. Nail and beak wear come from that chewing rather than from a sandpaper perch, which does more harm than good.
Living and exercise
30 by 24 by 36 inches minimum, and long rather than tall because of the tail. A ringneck in a cage that is too short holds its tail bent, and the damage shows in every feather until the next moult.
The call is loud and carries. They are a screaming species in the morning and evening, in the way most flock parrots are, and a flat with thin walls is a poor setting for one.
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