The importance of predation in regulating parrot populations is unknown. Native predators include eagles, hawks, snakes and the chuditch. Minimise access to grain and other agricultural foods throughout the year, to keep the resident parrot population as small as possible. Start shooting parrots as soon as tree damage is noticed, continuing for several days to drive off any that are not killed. During peak periods of damage, if shooting alone does not reduce damage, try a combination of diversionary feeding and shooting.
Parrots systematically scrape the exposed cambium after the bark is stripped.
Parrot damage is more common on fast growing trees on fertile sites such as sheep camps, and most damage is near the trees' growing tips. This pattern of damage is consistent with amino acid concentrations in blue gums - trees on fertile sites have high amino acid content in their phloem sap, especially near the growing tips. Rectifying the damage To minimise economic loss in tree stands damaged by parrots, silvicultural treatments such as culling, form pruning and coppicing may be useful. A separate TreeNote is planned on this topic. Ringneck parrots have a number of characteristics that help them thrive in our agricultural environment.