I thought I had written about this before here, but where I live in Redondo Beach there is a common sight in the skies....Parrots! Yep, not just a nickname for some sort of pigeon or other bird, but a full on, green and blue and red PARROT like these:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/birds-710638-texas-parrot.html
I have been seeing them around here for decades, but they are actually so common here now they are more numerous than some local species. In West Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, there are whole flocks of them living in the lush trees and foliage. They can be found living in the larger city parks, squawking on home rooftops or in the tops of tall palm trees, or digging through garbage bins. They call from the tops of telephone poles, and sometimes nest in the steeples of churches.
These birds represent a sort of "insurance policy" against their survival. In Mexico where they number less than 10,000, the population is declining due to poaching and scarcity of food and appropriate nesting spots. But in California, they have found a niche that no other birds fill at the moment and they are extremely intelligent and nest out of the reach of cats and snakes.
In addition to the parrots, it is not unusual to see flocks of parakeets, an occasional Macaw pair or an occasional cockatoo:
In the early 1970s, animal groups in California Texas and New York attacked pet stores selling exotic birds and other animals, and perhaps dozens were released across those states in a week's time. They called themselves the Animal Liberation Front, and they still exist today:
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/birds-710638-texas-parrot.html
I have been seeing them around here for decades, but they are actually so common here now they are more numerous than some local species. In West Los Angeles and Beverly Hills, there are whole flocks of them living in the lush trees and foliage. They can be found living in the larger city parks, squawking on home rooftops or in the tops of tall palm trees, or digging through garbage bins. They call from the tops of telephone poles, and sometimes nest in the steeples of churches.
These birds represent a sort of "insurance policy" against their survival. In Mexico where they number less than 10,000, the population is declining due to poaching and scarcity of food and appropriate nesting spots. But in California, they have found a niche that no other birds fill at the moment and they are extremely intelligent and nest out of the reach of cats and snakes.
In addition to the parrots, it is not unusual to see flocks of parakeets, an occasional Macaw pair or an occasional cockatoo:
In the early 1970s, animal groups in California Texas and New York attacked pet stores selling exotic birds and other animals, and perhaps dozens were released across those states in a week's time. They called themselves the Animal Liberation Front, and they still exist today:
) 3 problems:
I wonder if parrot will show up on some CA eatery menus? 
