A bill funding invasive parakeet removal from Kauai has drawn widespread support. The bill would allocate 150 thousand dollars to establish a one-year pilot program reducing the population of the birds that are categorized as especially destructive and invasive. Rose-ringed parakeets are known for decimating farmers’ yields by eating seed and fruit crops, and are reportedly responsible for an estimated average of 10 percent in losses for the island’s farms. A pair of the birds escaped captivity in 1968, introducing them to the Kauai ecosystem.
