Parakeets have taken over a tree in south London

No one really knows why there are so many parakeets in London. There are a few theories – the best one being that Jimi Hendrix released a pair onto Carnaby Street once and they reproduced, erm, a lot.

Either way, parakeets are all over this city. But it seems they have congregated in a big way in south London – specifically, in a tree in a train depot in Grove Park in Lewisham.

Londoner Kerry Waters posted a picture in the ‘Shit London’ Facebook group showing the Grove Park tree that’s literally covered in parakeets, to the point where they sort of just look like leaves at first glance. But look a little closer and you’ll see that it’s a big old crew of green-feathered parakeets. 

One commenter said: ‘They are noisy little buggers too but very pretty and they keep the trees around the cemetery green all year round!’ 

Do we really have Jimi Hendrix to thank for the ‘noisy little buggers’ that have taken over this south London tree? We’ll never know. 

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