Sad story of lonely parakeet living in Swansea's Singleton Park - where none of the other birds will make friends with it

Life sucks when you don't have a single friend in the world. This story, in its entirety, appeared on the South Wales Evening Post, January 9, 2015:

Welsh nature expert Iolo Williams has been exploring Swansea’s Singleton Park for his new TV series, where he uncovered all kinds of wildlife, including an exotic bird in need of a friend – and we've got an exclusive clip of the bird ahead of its broadcast.

“When we were filming, I had two or three people say to me, ‘you’re that boy off the telly – have you seen the parakeet yet?’” explains Iolo.

“It took us a while to find the ring-necked parakeet, but we did film it.

“It’s an escapee, native to India and parts of Asia,” he says of the glamorous bird which now calls the park home ­– and is the only species of parrot living wild in Britain.

“It spends a lot of time with the resident jackdaws, and we filmed it trying to butt in with two of them, who weren't interested.

“It’s desperately sad to see it on its own,” he adds of the lonely bird, frantically trying to make friends in its new home.

Correction. Indian Ringneck parrots are not the only species of parrot living wild in Britain. Britain also hosts a small colony of Quaker parrots which the British government is desperately and misguidedly trying to eradicate. We're told that Britain is overrun with Indian Ringneck parrots, so we can only hope with a little luck and a little effort this lonely fellow in Swansea will find a mate.