The Wild Parrots of San Diego

February 28, 2018 2:25 PM

“I’ve seen stand-offs between the crows and the parrots,” he says, “large flocks of each. Mostly, they just yell at each other.” Mixed flocks of naturalized green parrots and parakeets have become a well-known sight around San Diego. Theories abound as to how they arrived. While occasionally noisy and disruptive, they have a variety of fans, including SoCal Parrot, a rescue org (Audubon link, with beautiful parrot photos).
posted by Existential Dread (20 comments total)

Just like in Telegraph Hill! And Brooklyn! And Chicago! And Miami! Parrots are awesome, if a bit noisy. The theories are always the same - the side effect of a pet craze, or a large shipment that fell off a boat, or something. They all look like conures.
posted by grumpybear69 at 2:32 PM on February 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

There are parrot flocks throughout Orange and LA counties, as well. I can't find the source but I remember reading that there was an avian sanctuary that shut down decades ago and they just let all the birds go. They're easily my favorite invasive species, though they're very loud when passing through.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 2:34 PM on February 28, 2018 [3 favorites]

Science shows that crows are the biker gangs of the sky.
posted by bonehead at 2:35 PM on February 28, 2018 [4 favorites]

Austin has parakeets too...
posted by jim in austin at 2:55 PM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

See also.
posted by Splunge at 2:58 PM on February 28, 2018

So I used to work at Liberty Station, and outside High Tech High there are these ornamental trees that have these giant red berries on them. The Sea Gulls, Crows, Parrots, and occasional Sea Hawk would frequent the area, leading to the occasional turf war. One day the Crows decided to flex some muscle and started punking out the other birds.

The Parrots, figuring out that the berries on the trees had fermented, were not about to tolerate the Crows ruining their good time. They started a drunken bird brawl with the Crows, defending their tavern to my amazement and bewildering of a bunch of high school students in the process.

It seems the Crows learned that just because a bird is hanging upside down on a branch drunkenly squawking at the top of it's lungs, doesn't mean it's an easy target.
posted by The Power Nap at 3:34 PM on February 28, 2018 [20 favorites]

Yup ... I can hear West Side Story in Parrot thanks to a few years in Miami
posted by tilde at 4:42 PM on February 28, 2018

We have these most mornings in our back yard, maybe about 10 or 15 that visit the larger trees we have here since we live on the edge of a large park. It's amazing how loud they can be. I've been on calls in my home office where I've had questions about the noise or had to shut the window. Not what people expect to be hearing when you dial in from LA.
posted by feloniousmonk at 4:54 PM on February 28, 2018

Pasadena also has parrots.
And then there are the peacocks.
posted by Ideefixe at 5:36 PM on February 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

Didn't I see a documentary a few years ago about the naturalized parrot flocks who live (or once lived) in San Francisco? If I feel inspired I'll see if I can find it later.
posted by hippybear at 6:18 PM on February 28, 2018

Independent Lens | THE WILD PARROTS OF TELEGRAPH HILL trailer
posted by hippybear at 6:35 PM on February 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

naturalized

I was wondering if this was a synonym for "invasive". Not really, it seems.
posted by mark k at 6:58 PM on February 28, 2018

Hippybear: I lived in North Beach for a decade and would walk the Coit Tower stairs for exercise which pass right by the house that the Wild Parrots guy lived in. It is really a magical area.
posted by grumpybear69 at 7:20 PM on February 28, 2018

I live in Pasadena and when one of those flocks sits outside your house it's simultaneously amazing and annoying as hell. Boy are they pretty and terrifyingly loud. (The theory I always heard bandied about was a pet store caught a flame and they released the parrots or they escaped)

My favorite is still the Hollywood Freeway Chickens
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:17 PM on February 28, 2018 [2 favorites]

I have probably mentioned my local parrots. There are many cats here, so the parrots just make a warning flight cry, similar to the calls robins make, when they are startled. They don't make a lot of noise otherwise. They love grapefruit.
posted by Oyéah at 9:37 PM on February 28, 2018

Oh, the chickens! I was working in Lynwood not too long ago, and as I stood talking to a guy on the sidewalk a random chicken passed us. I remarked on it with surprise but he was nonplussed. "Yeah, they're all over the place", and then he went on with conversation we'd been having.
posted by vignettist at 10:43 PM on February 28, 2018

There are lots of parrots here in Amsterdam too. And in Lisbon where I was recently.

It appears that it is getting difficult to find a city without parrots!
posted by vacapinta at 4:05 AM on March 1, 2018

Oh, the peacocks! We had them wandering the neighborhood horse farm, along with chickens and such, moreso before the empty lot was built over with a road and a shopping venter.

Now I’ve got neighborhood peacocks again and a pair are albino.

HEEEELLLLLLLP! HEEELLLLLPPPP!

posted by tilde at 8:36 AM on March 1, 2018

My sister lives near Fourth Street in Berkeley and it's always fun to stroll along, eating a pastry from Bette's Oceanview Diner, and watch the flock of parrots argue in the trees.
posted by Squeak Attack at 8:44 AM on March 1, 2018

The middle Rio Grande valley has Guinea Hens.

They're dumb, they're loud, they're fast, and they reproduce like E.coli.
posted by endotoxin at 2:35 PM on March 1, 2018