It is twilight and hundreds of squawking birds settle on the massive ficus trees opposite Windsor Manor. It is an awesome sight that will overwhelm you. With large trees becoming scarce in the city there are a few roosting spots for rose ringed parakeets. Their companionable squawking and screeching before they settle for the night is a phenomenon, we city dwellers are lucky to witness.
Guhan Sundar who lives in the Vijaya Bank Layout , on Bannerghatta Road says, “Parrots have always fascinated me. During a birding session we saw a huge flock of more than 25 parakeets roosting on a single tree. I love seeing them landing with their tail feathers opened out. We are lucky to still find them in the city limits.”
“A huge number of rose ringed parakeets roost on a tree right at the parking entrance of the Brigade Gateway complex on Dr. Rajkumar Road,” shares birder Vishal Dutta.
According to Prashanth Badarinath an avid birder, “At Vidyapeetha circle, a lone ficus tree choked on all sides by the paved road, is home to the parakeets. I parked my bike at the signal lights, and could watch the parakeets snoozing hardly 15-20 feet above the road, on the lower branches amidst all the honking and glaring lights.”
Prashanth adds “The junction near Yediur is called the avarekai (beans) corner. For more than 30 years, heaps of avarekai harvested from the farms around Kanakapura are brought here every morning to be sold. Opposite this place is an avenue of dense rain trees and a few ficus trees that form an overarching canopy where the birds roost.”
Sathya talks about “A parakeet roost at Orion Mall. Check the rain trees at the northern edge of the mall at the WTC gate, along Dr. Raj Kumar Road, around sunset.” Jessu Paul says, “A cemetery adjacent to Nellurhalli lake in Whitefield has a bunch of tall trees, which are a roost to more than 50 rose ringed parakeets.”
