Ring necked parakeets. Image by GillK2012RSPB is among critics of the video showing how to kill parakeets who have been stealing fruit in London suburbs.
he RSPB has criticised a man plagued by parakeets eating his fruit trees for making an online video guide about how to kill them in back gardens.
The video, created by hunter James Marchington for the Fieldsports Channel, shows him shooting ring-necked parakeets after creating a fake bird to entice them.
James Marchington and his parakeet decoy. The clip, named Shooting Parakeets in London, is part of a series of videos providing advice on shooting animals.
According to the online description of the video on YouTube, "The flocks of ring-necked parakeets that ravage the fruit farms and vineyards of the south-east of England are at last under threat.
"They went on the quarry list in 2013. Now they are in the telescopic sights of pest controllers, including the owner of The Bird Table Of Doom himself, James Marchington."
A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds criticised the video's creators for glorifying hunting.
Hunter: Mr Marchington posted the video to YouTube He told the Standard: "I’d urge others not to follow this advice. Those who act like this could find themselves with a criminal record. Under the general licence, there is a defence for the ultimate sanction ONLY if crops or public health are at risk. The presenter says the birds are damaging his fruit tree.
"The tree is leafless with no sign of any crop. It is clearly not a commercial operation. He even lures the poor parakeet in with food. Under the general licence, if you can’t prove there is just cause for your actions, you’re not safe from prosecution; especially if you’ve not explored alternative forms of control."
He continued: "London is not the Wild West. London is a densely packed place where no one should be firing a weapon from their window. I would seriously hope that all right-minded, experienced marksmen, would support my call for this sort of behaviour to stop and for the video to be removed."
Parakeet in focusParakeets, which originate from the foothills of the Himalayas, have soared in number in London over the last two decades and they can now be found across the wider south east, especially large parts of Kent, Surrey and Sussex.
There are also populations in Manchester, Birmingham and Oxford, with reports in Edinburgh too, but exactly how they came to be released in the UK remains unknown.
There are suggestions that their numbers are increasing at up to 30 per cent a year, and estimates have put their population at up to 50,000.
In 2009, Natural England added the species, the UK’s only naturalised parrot – to its “general license”, meaning it can be culled in certain circumstances, such as if they are causing damage to crops. The change gives them the same legal status as pigeons, crows and magpies.
Hunters, who are reportedly killing the birds in the capital because they claim they are stealing fruit, must be able to show evidence that they are killing the birds "to prevent serious damage or disease" to obtain a licence.
Defending the video, the channel's owner Charlie Jacoby criticised animal rights campaigners Peta, who called the video "deranged".
He said: "Peta lives in this Disney world where all animals and birds are furry and cuddly. I like animals and birds as well but I also see them as pests and I also like to eat them.
"I think Peta needs to develop more emotional intelligence about wildlife. These birds are pests and government has designated them as such. People who live in towns should be able to manage their animals problems, just as people in the countryside do."
A government scheme to get rid of monk parakeets, a rare species of wild parrot, reportedly costs the UK taxpayer £1,000 per bird.