A Flock Of Parrots?

[ricco67]

I was driving south on I-45 just past the Scott Exit when I noticed a flock of 6-8 birds flying along Elgin towards The Stephen F. Austin High School.

I thought it was a trick of the sun as they had a green tint and thought it was unusual for pigeons.

Our paths got closer. The tail feathers were longer and finally noticed they had red/orange odd shaped beaks.

I shouted, "What The @!@#%? Are those !@%@ PARROTS??"

I almost lost control of the car at that point. I'm familiar with quite a few of the native birds in the area....is there a native bird in the area that might look like a parrot?? IF so, I'm totally stumped.

Do you think it might have escaped from a pet store or something?

Polly want a car-pool?

Ricco

[westguy]

Did it look anything like this?

I've heard that this particular bird was pretty good at escaping the pet trade and adapting to life here in the US.

[ricco67]

Not entirely sure. the colors are right, but all I had to look at them with was a sideview while they were flying. They were pretty good sized birds, though. a bit bigger pigeon.

Ricco

[Guest danax]

Did it look anything like this?

I've heard that this particular bird was pretty good at escaping the pet trade and adapting to life here in the US.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They're most likely Monk Parakeets. There are several flocks around town, including a large one over here on the East End that I see in Mason Park sometimes. Here's a link to our neighborhood website where there's a photo and short article about them. There's also a flock down on Belfort south of Bellaire and one in the Seabrook area and probably several others. They escaped from a crate at JFK airport in the 60s and have adapted in lots of places around the US including Chicago. They have the potential to become widespread agricultural pests, unfortunately.

[LTAWACS]

Why did you have to shout?

[Casual Observer]

I've seen them before around Hobby. I was told later by some coworkers that they sometimes escape from the Zoo. I don't know which tall-tale to believe now.. JFK Airport, or Herman Zoo??

[westguy]

Monk Parakeet is another name for Quakers. That's probably the bird you saw.

[MidtownCoog]

You HAVE to shout at Parakeets.

They are hard of hearing.

[westguy]

I should also say that they're exotic, but hardly a pest. They simply don't breed enough numbers.

[Parrothead]

LMAO!! This thread is great. I have heard of the flocks of Quakers around Houston, but have you guys heard of flamingoes? My sister SWEARS she saw two flying over the San Jac river. I said they were most likely Roseate Spoonbills.

[Guest danax]

I should also say that they're exotic, but hardly a pest. They simply don't breed enough numbers.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I love them and have thought about trying to attract the local flock to my back yard, although they are very noisy. Since they are already in places in the Midwest, over time though they could increase in numbers and find the vast cornfields there. There was once a native parakeet, the Carolina Parakeet, that was eventually exterminated by farmers in the 1800s.

[jpcampbell]

When we lived in Braes Heights, we used to have a few of the little pet store variety parakeets (green and blue budgies) that hung out with the sparrows in our backyard. These have the flat little downturned beaks, so they always had a hard time rummaging for seed on the ground, but they seemed to make do.

[ssullivan]

Quite a few cities in the US have wild parrots of some form. San Francisco has a well known flock on Telegraph Hill near the Coit Tower, and even New York has them.

I first heard of Houston's monk parakeets when one of the local news stations did a story on them in the late 1980s. But I've yet to see any of them in person.

[ricco67]

well these parrots were not parrakeets, they were Substantially larger than a pidgeon.

Ricco

[Parrothead]

Ricco, parakeets can get very large. "Budgies"--the birds most people associate and mistakenly call "parakeets" are typically sold in pet shops and are very small, but true parakeets can be almost as large as a small parrot.

[ricco67]

Well, these were not a small parrots, I'm tellin' ya!

These things looked like they could beat me up.

Of course, for all I know they could be a new east side gang of young punk pigeons and have adopted "green" as their colors and altered their beaks and feathers like young kids do these days.

Ricco

[Guest danax]

Well, these were not a small parrots, I'm tellin' ya! 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The Monks are about a foot long including tail. It's highly likely that's what they were. They have established colonies all over town. Here's a Houston Audubon Society link.

[Gary]

I've got a friend that lives on Kip street ,in Kemah which is right off the boardwalk. We were on his front porch last summer and a huge flock of parrots came into view. They were everywhere, in all the trees. It was pretty cool.

[bigboyz2004]

I've got a friend that lives on Kip street ,in Kemah which is right off the boardwalk. We were on his front porch last summer and a huge flock of parrots came into view. They were everywhere, in all the trees. It was pretty cool.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I don't know if you guys are aware of it or not but, Southern California, Southern Florida, Hawaii and the Rio Grande Valley are now home to dozens of species of free ranging parrot from all over the world.

[Serrano]

Hey yesterday i saw 4 parrots on my backyard bird feeder. They were huge. I think they had a red tip on their heads.

If they come back i'll try to record them on video.

[Pumapayam]

Why did you have to shout?

Shouting is SO barbaric!

That is pretty cool, seeing Parrots. It would be funny had they escaped some pet store.

[MyHomeHouston]

For some reason I sit amazed when I see a flock of doves (I believe they are doves) flying in a pattern around a select number of trees in the area. When they "whoosh" by it's pretty amazing in my opinion. Is this pretty normal?

You know, I've always wanted a Parrot. They just get insanely loud at inopportune moments. I remember calling a client and couldn't hear a word she was saying because "Peter" was fussy at the time.

[Scharpe St Guy]

I live in Broadmoor and that flock of parrots were in the trees in front of my house between the sidewalk and the street approx 2 weeks ago. My neighbor pointed them out to me as I was getting in the car, she see's them every now and then in our area. So yes they are parrots I saw them pretty close up.

Scharpe St Guy

[millennica]

There is a flock of wild parrots in San Francisco. A film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill Film, was shown in movie theatres in the SF Bay area. I believe the film was also shown on public television and may be available on DVD. More information about the film is available at: www.wildparrotsfilm.com

[Vertigo58]

I shouted, "What The @!@#%? Are those !@%@ PARROTS??"

I almost lost control of the car at that point. I'm familiar with quite a few of the native birds in the area....is there a native bird in the area that might look like a parrot?? IF so, I'm totally stumped.

Do you think it might have escaped from a pet store or something?

Hilarious! They had to have escaped from a pet truck or something rare or someone that was selling.

There was a good 20/20 story of how they smuggle them through the border to sell here. They showed the hub cap being removed and somehow inside they crammed some within and of course they were dead and just plopped on the ground. More were stuffed in the fenders and bumpers of the cars. Only a hand full actually survived and this story was done about 10 years ago. They are known to bring bad disease as well. Truth.

If I were one of these birds I would fly to a wealthy lonely person needing a friend so they could feed me good. Not to another animal but feed me the food, to be clear.

[Pumapayam]

There is a flock of wild parrots in San Francisco. A film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill Film, was shown in movie theatres in the SF Bay area. I believe the film was also shown on public television and may be available on DVD. More information about the film is available at: www.wildparrotsfilm.com

Maybe they will breed like crazy. I think the iguanas in Florida did that, and now they are considered a pest.

[millennica]

Maybe they will breed like crazy. I think the iguanas in Florida did that, and now they are considered a pest.

There are 2 flocks in SF, but the movie is about only one of them. The parrots have been breeding. According to Mark Bitner the person who wrote a book about the parrots and who was also involved with movie, in 1993, there were approximately 26 and he estimates there were approximately 200 in 2006. People in SF are crazy about the parrots and began feeding them. Since the film was aired, the wild parrots have become a big tourist attraction. Fearing that this would eventually be harmful to the parrots, Bitner pushed fo have the SF Board of Supervisors pass a law banning the feeding of the wild parrot flock in city-owned parks which went into effect early this summer. A few weeks ago, a large group of San Franciscans, who are opposed to the new law, gathered in the park and feed the parrots in direct violation of the new city ordinance.

[Guest Marty]

A friend of mine use to have alot of bird feeders in his backyard on the north side, he had a few of the green parrots land in a cage with food in it.

One of the coolest birds that we saw in his tree look like this.