About 6 years ago I glimpsed what I thought was an Australian Ringneck at my place on the s.e. Slopes of the Mt Lofty eRanges in SA. Yesterday I had a definite sighting of one as it flew & called for several seconds within ten meters of me.
This was quite exciting as my property is within about 10 kilometers of the edge of mallee country where Ringnecks are most likely to be seen. Yet again the value of planting indigenous vegetation is in evidence as it's highly unlikely this Ringneck would have ventured into an area revegetated with introduced species.
i wouldn't go that far
indeed this species is easily attracted to artificial feeders
i saw about 30 at a feeder on my last trip to SA
Maybe not without being seduced by an artificial feeder, zosterops.
i know of one escapee in melbourne that has survived for about 3 years at liberty
It's possible that the bird I saw was an escapee but what a disappointment that would be! I prefer to think that the Ringneck I saw was taking advantage of the ecological restoration occurring in my area. It didn't seem to seek my company & behaved as tho' I wasn't present - as far as I could tell. I haven't seen it since that one sighting. Most, but not all, escapees at my place (e.g., Java Sparrow) have hung about for some time - hours or days- rather than seemingly just passed through.
Fascinating, Woko. Sounds to me like the bird was either lost or a flock of the birds were nearby and it was calling out to them to keep in touch. If you didn't hear any other birds call back I'd say the bird was lost and was trying to find it's flock, hence flying and calling at the same time. Or, it could've been looking for a new mate, hence flying outside it's normal range to find a mate. Birds do get lost when they're not paying attention but usually not in a small flock as they're more attentive than that. But its good to know Australian Ringnecks are around in your area, somewhere, though Woko. Have you seen the bird again or did it just fly through your area?
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
Just flew through on its infrequent flyer points, Shirley. Since we're on the edge of its normal range I'd guess it was a single bird exploring new habitat.