Becca said:Parrots have been known to escape, but I have a feeling that Freya's
former owners could not make the committment that raising a bird
requires, so they turned her loose.
There are flocks of parrots and parakeets all over southern
California, you can hear them screeching.
Nanday conures compete with native downy woodpeckers for cavities in
sycamore trees to nest in, and noisy flocks of yellow-chevroned
parakeets hang out in the washingtonia palm trees and eat the fruit of
non-native ornamental silk floss trees.
The most exotic escaped tropical bird I ever saw was a chestnut billed
toucan that was making a noise like a gate with a rusty hinge. It was
sitting in the top of a pine tree.
Who do you report something like that to, the dog catcher?
"Sorry. We don't do toucans, Maybe you should call Department of
Homeland Security?"
Keeping a bird or an animal in a cage for one's own pleasure and then
pretending that the creature is a "friend" is a very selfish and cruel
action, in my mind.
A neighbor put up a sign offering a reward for the return of his
beloved "Tony", a yellow cockatiel who had escaped.
I know what happened to Tony. My cat ate him.
How could I apologize for my cat doing what came naturally to a bird
that wasn't supposed to be looking for birdseed on top of my garage?
Better Tony's owner should never know what happened to Tony. Let him
imagine that Tony found a new home...
I would occasionally see an escaped peach faced lovebird or one with a
blue head, and of course there are escaped parakeets all over the
place.
One time I saw a European goldfinch sitting on a neighbor's fence.
I saw a cockatiel flying with the pigeons and wondering if it would
survive the winter.
I used to see a guy who owned a hyacinth macaw allowing it to fly free
in the Hollywood hills. I asked him if he wasn't afraid that the
native red-tailed hawks that hung out in the canyons wouldn't kill his
macaw. He claimed that the macaw could take care of itself.
I enjoyed watched the macaw do barrel rolls and loops as it flew down
the canyons.
It was very maneuverable and interesting to watch. But it didn't
belong in that environment.
