Tropical parakeets have made the Waterworks Park in north Belfast their home becoming the star attraction
Photographers and families have been flocking to a north Belfast park in a bid to see one of these colourful tropical birds.
Resplendent with green feathers and a rose-red beak, the ring-neck parakeets have become the star attraction at the Waterworks Park, the BBC report.
Originally from the Himalayas, the Indian sub-continent, and parts of Africa, ring-necked parakeets are regularly spotted across the UK, with large populations in London and the south-east of England.
It's estimated that about 15 of these parrots have found a new home in the foothills of Cavehill.
Dot Blakely, a bird expert who teaches bird-watching courses at Belfast Metropolitan College and Queen's University Belfast (QUB), said she brings students to the park to study the new residents.
"The parakeets are likely to have come over from London," she said. "It's likely they moved across to the Republic of Ireland before moving up."
"We're seeing more birds come across because of climate change, so many birds that we wouldn't have seen here before.
"People still think of it as a tropical bird but it has adapted."
Ms Blakely told BBC News NI she thinks there are about 13 to15 parakeets living in the park, which indicates they are getting enough food to sustain a small colony and are likely to be breeding.
"There are lots of berries around the area, but lots of locals are leaving seed out for them," she added.
"Sometimes you'll see the birds right up at people's windows waiting to get fed."