Parrots

Stunning :o)

Thanks Terratoonie!
Though I see (and hear) the Parrots fairly often they usually have a way disappearing before I get the camera.

On another note I really enjoyed the picture of your Budgie you posted the other day. Crocus reminds me so much of my little Budgie named Pepper, he was also green with a yellow head. Pepper was with me for over 13 years. They're great little birds.

Randy, I hear them every day. I'm surprised there's only a few of them here. Usually, there's a whole flock of them.

There's some debate that these parrots actually might be native or have been native to San Diego (before they retreated back down to Mexico many decades ago).

Hi Andy, I counted nine in the group these two were with on the wires. I could hear others they were calling to nearby. It does seem like their numbers have been increasing over the years.

I've been trying to ID these. I think these Parrots are likely Aratinga acuticaudata 'Blue-crowned Conure' that are native to South America.

No, this parrot is Red-Crowned Amazon (Amazona viridigenalis). There's a few a other species of feral parrots which make San Diego home, also. I think I found this information out at Sea World or at the Catamaran Resort parrot caretakers. (I can't remember).

Hi Andy and Randy ..
I can't see any red on the heads of these parrots, so they seem more like Blue Crowned Conures to me, but I would need a close-up pic to be sure.
Pepper the budgie sounds like he was a super friend, and thirteen is a good age. :o)
Have you seen internet footage of Disco the parakeet ? ... brilliant !

I'd always thought it was Red-Crowns I'd been seeing around. A few things on these birds just didn't look right for Red-Crowns. I observed nine birds and was able to get quite a few pictures. None of the birds had any red on their heads at all. They were crowned in either green or blue as in this picture. The white rings around eyes looked much more prominent then Red-Crowns. The tail feathers on these birds were long and came to a pointed end, they also showed red on the underside especially in flight, the Red-Crown tail feathers look like they're mostly green, short and squared off.
I still believe these are probably Blue-Crowned Conures.

Hi Terratoonie,

I checked out Disco the parakeet, he's quite the talker!
Pepper could sort of say a few words " pretty bird" "pretty Pepper" though not all that clearly. He lived under an open cage policy during the day and was happy flying mostly between his cage and the window sill. He could always find ways to entertain himself. He was a great friend.

Hi Randy ... any chance of a photo on GoY of Pepper please ? He was obviously quite a character !

Yes, there is plenty of footage on the internet of Disco ..
my favourite is his personalised interpretation of the Flintstones theme tune !

Pepper predate my digital photos, I will try to find something I can scan to a reasonable resolution.

Thanks .. please put a comment here when you've managed to find a photo.

Hey Randy, I just noticed that there's no red. LOL! I know there's large populations of other parrots here in San Diego. I think blue-crowned conures were one of the parrtos that the caretakers of the parrots at the Catamaran Rosort (I rememebered) said were wild in San Diego. You should go there and talk with them. I'm sure someone at the San Diego Zoo would know about all the wild parrots here, also.

Lol. Andy ...
red is the new green ;o)

Terratoonie:

Yes, that's right...red is the new green. LOL!

I have some photos of the red-crowned Amazons on GoY. When the photos were originally posted I though they were a different type of parrot.

Randy,

Here's a photo of the one of the care takers of the parrots at the Catamaran Resort in Mission Bay. She was very knowledgeable about all the different feral parrots living in San Diego.

http://www.growsonyou.com/photo/slideshow/279210-lilac-crowned-amazon-parrot-at-the-catamaran-in-san-diego-ca

It looks like San Diego has a verity of naturalize parrot
species. Looking back through other photos I've taken these Blue-Crowns seem to be fairly common
in the neighborhood.
If you do a video search of "Wild Parrots of San Diego" there's a 5 1/2 min video of these birds eating sunflower seeds in someone's garden.

I know there's so many parrots. I know the beach communities have been complaining about the noise from the parrots for many years. At least the parrots in our neighborhood just pass through.