A lot of people have noticed that certain cities have populations of wild parrots that got loose somehow. San Francisco has at least two flocks of parrots one is an Ecuadorian conure. While researching the final chapters of my book on economic cycles I ran across this ad in an Oct, 1929 San Francisco Call-Bulletin. Could this be the original source of these birds?
Maybe some birders can chime in.
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They thrived so well here in Connecticut, the electric company was euthanizing them. For a while it was a hot topic out here.
I’ve seen flocks of green feathered wild parrots in the cities of Orange and Irvine in Southern California. My guess that they run about 25 to 30 birds each. There is the possibility that they are the same flock since the cities are about 15 miles apart.
I’ve often wondered where they came from too.
When Bush Gardens closed in Van Nuys, CA they just let all the birds loose. That was some 20-25 years ago and there’s still a good number of them and their offspring around the area. Those are mostly the larger multicolor (red/blue) Macaw variety.
I used to live Near Deloris Street in SF and those buggers would just be skawking. I used to love to watch them fly around and eat the barries out of the trees.
I hope this doesn’t give some asshole an idea, any idea about these birds. Like classic cars, look, but DO NOT TOUCH!!
4. I am totally shocked that parotts could survive in the climate of Northern Ca. Bay area. I was under the impression this wasnt possible. Maybe if they get acclimated to it, but I transported one from the tropics to Colorado and it promptly fell ill (from the climate according to the vet) and died. That was one smart bird.
Did you also know a group of parrots is called a pandemonium? I didn’t.
Also, interesting ‘The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill”
http://tinyurl.com/2e82kq
the green ones are probably “quaker” or “monk” parrots. they do pretty well out doors. in some cities/states they are illegal to own because of their flocking tendencies. not to mention the HUGE nests they build. the nests have been known to bring down power poles.
I thought this was a pretty isolated thing to happen until I read this post. Parrot infestations? The irony is there are feral parrots in the Schosspark on the Rhine in Wiesbaden, too. (MY ex-wife owns a small hotel there – http://www.pension-anuschka.de/. Nice place.) I always wondered what the parrots did in the winter. Fly south?
The parrots that can survive that harsh weather are usually the varieties that tend to make communal nests, that way, they can develop a shelter big and insulated enough to keep them warm during the winter months.
BTW parrots are edible.
Let me second Curmudgeon’s recommendation of “Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.” It’s a fine little movie, a documentary about a drifter who found his calling in taking care of the wild birds. The parrots came to trust him in time, and would come into his apartment when wounded. He would care for them until they felt able to leave, at which point they would rejoin the flock. It’s quite a remarkable little story. It also talks about the two flocks now wild in San Francisco. Besides being remarkably intelligent, those birds are hardier than people tend to think they are.
Thirded for the Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.
Mark Bittner, who fed them daily, was such a remarkable person. You couldn’t help but feel for the poor guy when he was forced to move and give up his pet parrot Mingus (Mingus was injured and couldn’t cut it in the wild so Mark took him in) and it brought him to tears.
There’s a 2 great twists at the end that really made this film a most outstanding ‘feel-good’ documentary with zero schmaltz.
Actually, although most people think of parrots as “tropical” birds, some of them thrive in the highlands of the tropics, where the temperature can reach freezing temperatures even in the day and never goes over 55 degrees (Farenheit), all year round, so they are prepared to cope with (relatively) cold weather.
Some organizations now in the tropics use natural flocks of birds like parrots in the cities as tourists attractions, and very successful ones. So, rather than plagues, they can be assets, depending how you handle them.
There are two breeding populations of parrots in San francisco, the ones known for being aroudn Telegraph Hill and the Presidio which are origianlly from upland Ecuador, then the Canary-winged parakeets near Mission Dolores. Los Angeles has many more species of parrots breeding in that area. Kimball Garrett of the LA County Museum jhas made aserious study of the naturalized parrots there. Just google and find the amterial. Here’s a pieceo n what they eat:
http://elibrary.unm.edu/sora/wb/v28n04/p0196-p0201.pdf
There are mnumerous populations that have naturalized in Florida and across Europe. Ring-necked Parrots are loud and proud in place like Amsterdam and London. Warmer winters will just make them more successful.