Skip to main content

Pesky parakeet piques Palatinate police

Police in a small German town were stumped when their speed trap camera went off clocking a vehicle doing 30kph in a 20kph zone. The photo, taken on a clear day at 10am, showed no object, according to German media reports. But on closer examination, police in the town of Zweibrücken, in the south west, spotted a tiny airborne object – a green ring-necked parakeet – in mid-flight. “After close visual inspection of the photo taken at the scene we solved the puzzle,” the Rhineland Palatinate police sa
May 19, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
Police in a small German town were stumped when their speed trap camera went off clocking a vehicle doing 30kph in a 20kph zone.

The photo, taken on a clear day at 10am, showed no object, according to German media reports.

But on closer examination, police in the town of Zweibrücken, in the south west, spotted a tiny airborne object – a green ring-necked parakeet – in mid-flight.

“After close visual inspection of the photo taken at the scene we solved the puzzle,” the Rhineland Palatinate police said.

It was, apparently, the first offence by the birds which have made their homes in the local Rosengarten Park.

A would normally be given a warning fine of around €15. But is not likely the bird can be positively identified.

In the world of birds, a white-throated needle-tail – a large common swift - has been clocked at 169 kph in level flight. However, the record for the fastest speed in a dive is held by the peregrine falcon at 389 kph.

Related Content

  • Montreal’s new Champlain Bridge is shaping up for Christmas
    September 10, 2018
    Montreal’s Champlain Bridges - one going up, one coming down, reports David Arminas The importance of the new Champlain Bridge to Montreal and Canada can’t be overstated, given the crumbling nature of the not-so-old original Champlain Bridge. The original steel truss affair across the St Lawrence River and the adjacent St Lawrence Seaway canal is “a lifeline for residents and businesses” in greater Montréal, according to the national Auditor General - the public sector spending watchdog. “It accommodates
  • Tough tunneling challenge in Italy
    May 25, 2016
    New levels of efficiency and sophistication are being seen in the latest earthmoving machines coming to market - Mike Woof writes. The earthmoving equipment segment accounts for one of the largest parts of the total market for construction machines. All around the world excavators and articulated dumptrucks (ADTs) can be seen operating on construction sites. With a massive array of manufacturers offering these machines, it is no surprise that the segment is hotly contested. In developed markets firms are en
  • Finland ploughs ahead with a planned Hailuoto causeway
    May 8, 2018
    Finland’s planned 8km Hailuoto Causeway is likely to cost around €74 million, according to the North Ostrobothnia Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment.
  • Rebuilding the busy Frankfurt Airport in Germany
    September 12, 2017
    Handling up to 450 take-offs/day, Runway West is Frankfurt Airport’s busiest runway. Over 50% of the aircraft taking off from the airport uses Runway West, and a point worth noting is that this German airport is one of the busiest in Europe. In 2016, Frankfurt Airport handled nearly 61 million passengers, surpassed by Schiphol in Amsterdam and Charles de Gaulle in Paris, Europe’s third and second busiest airports respectively. Meanwhile London’s Heathrow remained Europe’s busiest airport