Quakers or monks, parakeets are a noisy lot

I’m just back from a winter escape to Malaga in the south of Spain. Soon after I arrived I heard an unfamiliar bird sound, says Dick Warner.

It was like the chattering of starlings, only faster, louder and more frenzied. It took me a while to spot the birds, and then it was only a glimpse from below as they flew over. They were about the size of starlings but with longer wings and a much longer tail. Their undersides were pale grey or off-white.

A couple of days later, sitting at a cafe beside the beach, I got a much better view. Half a dozen of the birds were foraging in the crown of a date palm and then a couple of them obligingly settled on the grass beneath.