Why do you capture me? : My DAILY wildlife photo, species info and musings

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.” - Charlotte Bronte

ALAS! In the case of the Alexandrine Parakeet (Psittacula eupatria) the opposite is true. We, the free human beings, capture and cage this beautiful free bird! So much that the species is now in 'Near threatened 'category, which means that it will be on it's way to extinction soon if nothing changes.

This pretty bird has always been susceptible to capture and being kept in cages as a pet. It's beauty has been it's bane. From the days of Alexander the great, this bird has been favored by royalty and wealthy people as a pet. In fact, the name Alexandrine Parakeet, supposedly originates from the legend that Alexander the Great took them back from Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent to Europe and then it became a popular pet.

I came across this lovely avian creature unexpectedly while roaming around in the jungles near the foothills of a large mountain range. I was on the look out, along with couple of friends for a few different types of owls. After a fruitless night of exploration, having found nothing except for a barn owl, we were prowling around palm trees to see if we could locate the barn owl roosting in day time.

There were several parakeets flying around. It is a common sight to see rose ringed parakeets squabbling over hollows in palm trees for nesting space. However, a different looking parakeet flew in after a while and landed on top of a dead palm tree trunk. It had blazing red patches on it's wings and bright yellow tail feathers. It was one of natures more beautiful creations.

When I looked it up, it turned out to be the Alexandrine parakeet. While I was elated to have found it, the thought of us humans capturing it and putting it in cages made me sad. I only captured the moment in my camera, thought I, but what if, next day, someone puts it in a cage?

How will we, humans, feel in cages?

If you don't like being in a cage, please don't put a bird in a cage either!

Having recently had the experience of COVID quarantine, this thought is even more prominent in my mind. 'A free bird' is an expression we use to describe someone without any responsibilities or encumbrances. However, we go and put birds in cages. Isn't that ironic?

It is my earnest plea, therefore, to let everyone around you know, to make an appeal, not to put birds, especially the Alexandrine parakeet in cages.

I request everyone to re-blog and help spread the message. Thanks

Here is the photograph in original size and form:

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Information about the bird

• Name: Alexandrine parakeet

• Scientific name: Psittacula eupatria

• Size: Around up to 35 cm (14 inches)

• Conservation status: Near Threatened(IUCN 3.1)

• Description (based on e-bird, Wikipedia and my observations): This large bird of the parrot family is found across Europe, Middle-east and Asia. It inhabits forests, mangroves, farmlands and woodlands. It mainly eats various types of fruit, flower buds, grain and nuts. Adults of the species are sexually dimorphic. Flocks of these parrots vocalize to create quite a racket usually. While in captivity, it is known to imitate human speech. Perhaps this, coupled wit it's beautiful appearance, makes it a very desirable pet and is driving the species to near threatened levels due to excessive capturing.

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Information about photograph

• Aperture: F5.6
• ISO: 400
• Shutter: 1/800
• Support: Handheld shot
• Camera: Nikon D500
• Lens: Nikkor 200-500mm
• Image format: Photo clicked in RAW and edited for presentation sizing

A big thank you for support

Thanks to c/hive-106444 (Feathered friends community) for providing this wonderful opportunity to present my experience and photographs. Thanks to @barbara-orenya and @melinda010100 for all the support and encouragement to this community. Special thanks to @nelinoeva also for starting the Species hunt initiative. My posts are not exactly in that format but have all the necessary info and Good original Photos. Further guidance will be very much welcome.

Thanks to HIVE for this wonderful platform. I am using the Hive logo in the collage for showing that the image and post is a dedicated HIVE post. Hope that is OK. The HIVE animation is a graphic created by @doze and free to use as per his post. Many thanks to @doze.

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Note: All images and collages in this blog are created by me, based on photos clicked by me personally and/or free vector images from Pixabay
Quotes used, if not credited, are either from unknown authors or are proverbial old sayings.

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