# What's the origin of the wild parrots in southern CA? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 30, 2015, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419 "2015-08-30T19:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/41 "2015-08-31T22:57:27Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > As noted in **Fear Itself’s** link, the Carolina Parakeet once occurred in the southeastern US (ranging occasionally north to New York) but was hunted to extinction by the 1920s. > > The [Thick-billed Parrot](http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/PageServer?pagename=species_birds_thick_billed_parrot#.VeTDR_lVhBc) once ranged into the southwestern US but has become locally extinct there while surviving in Mexico. Unsuccessful efforts have been made to reintroduce it. > > The[Red-crowned Amazon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-crowned_amazon) may sometimes occur naturally in south Texas as strays from Mexico. > > Many parrots can tolerate mild temperate conditions, and the [Monk or Quaker Parakeet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_parakeet), originally from Argentina, has established feral populations as far north as Massachusetts and Chicago. I used to see Quaker Parakeets in Seattle. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/42 "2015-09-01T03:09:56Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > I miss the wild parrots. Said the guy who clearly never had those green squawking motherfuckers roost within 100 feet of his window. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/43 "2015-09-01T04:35:13Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ISTR reading an article or seeing a video several years ago, about parrots thriving in areas where there are harsh Winters. Toronto comes to mind, but I can’t even remember the format I saw these birds in. [Monk Parakeets in the snow in Brooklyn NY.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8V27M_Mv3LA) ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/44 "2015-09-01T09:49:29Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Said the guy who clearly never had those green squawking motherfuckers roost within 100 feet of his window. 🙂 As I mentioned in the OP, they’d congregate in the palm trees and power lines right outside my home and squawk up a storm at sunrise and sunset. Much like the roar of jet planes flying right overhead at low altitude on their way to/from Lindbergh Field, it’s just part of the background noise of life in OB. You don’t really think about it, but when you end up living somewhere else, its absence is noticeable. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/45 "2015-09-01T20:28:27Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > Apparently[not any more](http://science.jrank.org/pages/5042/Parrots-Parrots-in-North-America.html#ixzz3kPzixt9S): The last ones likely succumbed to disease, and also they may have been one of those species that simply will not breed unless there are thousands around. The Passenger Pigeon was one of them. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/46 "2015-09-01T23:37:04Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Damn, there are parrots everywhere. It’s a conspiracy, I think… I KNOW they conspire to land in my yard at the ass crack of dawn when I am most hung over. There is no way they aren’t doing it on purpose each and every time. Fuckers.! My wife is a hardcore 4th generation birder and even SHE hates the fuckers. So damn loud, so damn early. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/47 "2015-09-02T00:42:09Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > I KNOW they conspire to land in my yard at the ass crack of dawn when I am most hung over. … So damn loud, so damn early. The solution is obvious. Start drinking earlier so as to pass out around 5pm instead of 1 am. So now you’ll wake up at 2am, eat/drink your favorite hangover cure and be fully recovered by daybreak when the birds start their day. 😃 You win by drinking earlier and avoiding being annoyed by the birds. It’s a twofer! ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/48 "2015-09-02T00:52:51Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The solution is obvious. Start drinking earlier so as to pass out around 5pm instead of 1 am. > > So now you’ll wake up at 2am, eat/drink your favorite hangover cure and be fully recovered by daybreak when the birds start their day. 😃 > > You win by drinking earlier and avoiding being annoyed by the birds. It’s a twofer! Well I work 2nd shift (2pm-10pm), so I can’t start drinkin until 9ish pm. 😉 And I’m always up until like 4am anyway. On my day’s off, I’ll sometimes be going to bed just as they start their hideous squawking. Hideous hideous squawking. It’s not like its just a loud sing songy bird by any means. Tho that is also annoying, it isn’t as deathwishy. No, my only choice is to take over the Evil Geniuses For A Better Tomorrow and use their Orbital Mind Control Lasers to fry their little birdy brainies. ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/49 "2015-09-02T04:03:47Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’m not angry, just very disappointed. I want both of you to go to your rooms and think about what you’ve done. You’re acting _in locus parrotis_—stop making a psittacine. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/50 "2015-09-02T04:47:09Z")
I hear Yellow-chevroned parakeets daily here in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/51 "2015-09-02T15:38:32Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > As noted in **Fear Itself’s** link, the Carolina Parakeet once occurred in the southeastern US (ranging occasionally north to New York) but was hunted to extinction by the 1920s. > > The [Thick-billed Parrot](http://www.wildearthguardians.org/site/PageServer?pagename=species_birds_thick_billed_parrot#.VeTDR_lVhBc) once ranged into the southwestern US but has become locally extinct there while surviving in Mexico. Unsuccessful efforts have been made to reintroduce it. > > The[Red-crowned Amazon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-crowned_amazon) may sometimes occur naturally in south Texas as strays from Mexico. > > Many parrots can tolerate mild temperate conditions, and the [Monk or Quaker Parakeet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monk_parakeet), originally from Argentina, has established feral populations as far north as Massachusetts and Chicago. It seems odd to me that so many species of parrots can live and breed in California, yet there there no native species of parrot, despite populations just a little bit south in Mexico. I’m wondering if the parrots are relying on water from humans, or some other human change to the environment, and back 200 years ago they wouldn’t have been able to survive. Or maybe it’s one of those things where rare 50 or 100 year weather events will wipe out the species. Lots of non-native trees thrive in Florida, then along comes a big hurricane and the trees get flattened. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/52 "2015-09-02T15:49:36Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > It seems odd to me that so many species of parrots can live and breed in California, yet there there no native species of parrot, despite populations just a little bit south in Mexico. > > I’m wondering if the parrots are relying on water from humans, or some other human change to the environment, and back 200 years ago they wouldn’t have been able to survive. > > Or maybe it’s one of those things where rare 50 or 100 year weather events will wipe out the species. Lots of non-native trees thrive in Florida, then along comes a big hurricane and the trees get flattened. All parrots with the exception of Monk Parakeets nest in cavities, either tree holes or sometimes ones in rock or soil. I would expect that a stronger limiting factor in southern California may have been the lack of enough large trees with holes big enough for nesting. Humans probably provided many more potential nesting sites by planting trees, and in crevices in buildings and other structures. Part of the Monk Parakeet’s success is due to the fact that it builds its nest out of sticks, and isn’t reliant on cavities. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/53 "2015-09-02T18:19:20Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > All parrots with the exception of Monk Parakeets nest in cavities, either tree holes or sometimes ones in rock or soil. I would expect that a stronger limiting factor in southern California may have been the lack of enough large trees with holes big enough for nesting. Humans probably provided many more potential nesting sites by planting trees, and in crevices in buildings and other structures. > > Part of the Monk Parakeet’s success is due to the fact that it builds its nest out of sticks, and isn’t reliant on cavities. We have been planting lots of palm trees, and in SF that were I noticed parrots hanging out. Could they nest there? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/54 "2015-09-02T18:29:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > We have been planting lots of palm trees, and in SF that were I noticed parrots hanging out. Could they nest there? If they have holes. Lots of parrots here in Panama City use woodpecker holes in palms for nest sites. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2015, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419/55 "2015-09-02T18:33:17Z")
Parrots are weird birds. They look like human-bred trophies instead of wild animals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-origin-of-the-wild-parrots-in-southern-ca/729419.md?page=2)