Right, what’s really going on with these Mancunion parrots?

You might have seen the Fallowfield parakeets flying around and no, you haven’t just been to the Warehouse Project too much: They do exist. You might find yourself asking where they came from, so I’m here to quash the rumours.

While South Manchester’s student and rat populations often steal headlines, no one seems to be talking about the 150 parrots that have settled into life in the suburbs. Maybe you’ve simply accepted them as inhabitants of Whitworth Park – or you’re unphased since seeing the flocks of green feather in London – however, for many of people, this community of vibrant birds was yet another Fallowfield surprise in first year.

The birds themselves are ring-necked parakeets, native to Asia and sub-Saharan Africa but now known as the UK’s only naturalised parrot. Those familiar with the parrot populations in London and South-East England will recognise their green bodies and long tails: Their population of nearly 40,000 is spread across England.

As with the birds down South, the ring-necked parakeets of the North have some crazy rumours surrounding their origin story. We might not have found one specific answer, but here’s a selection of the best theories deducing how these birds came to be so far from home.

1. It’s the students’ fault

via Unsplash

A common rumour blames an inventive student and their attempt to fund their drinking antics. It’s said that he started breeding the birds to sell and got had around five 0r six before a fight with a housemate saw them freed into the back garden.

It’s not the most believable story, granted, but stranger things have happened on Fallowfield terrain – think of the things that one flatmate did in Fresher’s week.

2. The African Queen

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Another theory speculates that the birds escaped from the film set of The African Queen in 1951. Brought to London from overseas, it’s said that the crew let the birds loose at the end of filming. Leading actors Katharine Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart must have been high maintenance co-stars for the parrots, as this legend does rely on their escaping all the way up North…

3. Pet Shop Birds

via Unsplash

It makes for a bad sales reputation – which is probably why no one has stepped up and taken the blame – but it’s not unlikely that the birds escaped from a pet shop some years ago. This one would explain a lot: How they came to be in Manchester, why they’re so indifferent to the gloomy weather and screaming toddlers of Platt Fields. However, the matter of how they left their cage in the first place remains a mystery.

4. The Hendrix thesis

Again a London-centric claim, but for those who haven’t heard it before: It has been long believed that Jimi Hendrix released a pair of parakeets on Carnaby Street in the 1960s. Perhaps their offspring then developed a taste for the music scene of the North later on, but again the distance makes this one harder to believe.

5. Windy weather

The final story blames the Great Storm of 1987, a violent extratropical cyclone with hurricane-force winds that damaged parks, roads, forests and railways. Due to the extent of the damage, some people suggest that the parrots left their broken aviaries (large bird enclosures) and started life in the wild.

Speculations aside, there’s something all the more endearing about the mystery of these birds. Whether they fled from London or were released from captivity in Manchester, our ring-necked parakeets remain another of the city’s hidden gems.

Featured image via Unsplash.