AMAZON PARROT Amazona finschi/A. - viridigenalis/ A. - ochrecephala

Parrots were never uninvited guests. They were first brought to Los Angeles as pets. Many got free by chewing through the bars of their cages, ( a bamboo cage is easy to chew through if you are a parrot). Now, for 70 or 80 years, these parrots have been flying free on the Arcadia estate of Lucky Baldwin. In the early 1950's almost 200 parrots were let go by smugglers in Alhambra just before the police arrested the smugglers. There was also a big fire in Bel-Air in 1961. That fire burnt the cages or aviaries and many parrots got free. People also let their pet parrots go when they didn't feel like taking care of them any more.

The most common parrots flying around Southern California are the yellow-necked Amazon parrots, the red-headed Amazons, and the lilac-crowned Amazons.

The strange thing is that even though these parrots are now free, they usually stay in one area- the area where it is easy to find their kind of food. You will find parrots only in areas planted with tall, tropical trees and bushes that give lots of shade. They never go into the dry places.

Parrots are herbivores. They eat lots of fruits, seeds, nuts, and flowers. In all, parrots eat almost 30 different kinds of plants, including plums, eucalyptus, pecans, cherries, and carob. Everyone is surprised that parrots don't like to eat bananas and oranges though.

A parrot's life is made up of having a family and looking for food. Everything revolves around the mother and father parrots. Parrots become partners for life. They sleep together, feed together, and fly together. A flock of parrots is made up of a lot of male-female partners.

In their real home or habitat, which is South and Central America, Amazons usually make flocks which have only one kind of bird. Because there are not enough of one kind of parrot in Los Angeles, parrots have to make flocks which have many different kinds of birds in them. Many mixed flocks have been seen in Los Angeles from Pasadena to the Westside. There are about 5 to 10 pairs of birds in a flock. Parrot partners do not always stay in just one flock.

Parrots like to live, or roost, in tall trees with lots of leaves. The parrots feel safer in the tallest trees. Trees with lots of leaves protect the parrots from wind and cold. If you have ever seen a group of parrots settling in the trees for the night, you'll never forget it. The parrots make very loud noises, and fight each other for the best spots in the tree. All of a sudden, one bird will make a strange, loud cry, and then all the other parrots will shut up. No one knows exactly why!

Another thing no one knows for sure is if parrots have really been able to make a good home in this part of the world. The number of parrots in Southern California is stable but it does not seem to grow. Perhaps enough babies are not being raised. Even parrots in South and Central America have only a few babies at a time. Parrots like to build nests in tree holes. These tree holes are not easy to find. If new parrots did not escape, scientists think that the number a parrots in Los Angeles may shrink and then just disappear.