Uncovering the mystery of wild parrots in Southern California
By Madison Most / Special to The Malibu Times
Most Malibu residents are familiar with the brash squawking of vibrantly plumed parrots on hiking trails, in neighborhood trees and many other places. But Southern California is not exactly a historical hotbed of wild parrots. So where did they come from, and how did they manage to survive and procreate in a land far from their home?
Digging into old LA Times articles, scholarly publications on parrots and the website for the federal government’s invasive species center, a few theories rise to the top. They involve a 1960s fire in Bel Air, a defunct theme park and changing horticulture practices.
Most of us associate parrots with rainforests and other tropical places, and it turns out that parrots are found primarily in tropical and subtropical regions; but a few unique species occupying alpine and temperate regions. The United States once boasted its own native parrot: the now-extinct Carolina Parakeet. But that does not help our search.
In the 1960s, people began reporting sightings of flocks of green parrots in various areas of Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino Counties. Today there are thirteen different species of parrots living free in Southern California.
Did numerous people keep these birds as pets and coincidentally, enough of them escaped, managed to find each other and procreated? It turns out, to some degree the answer is yes. But if that were the only source of these wild parrots the flocks would be much smaller and some would not even exist. Many people believe that a few large-scale release incidents contributed to the proliferation of these birds.
The first suspected large-scale release incident was the Bel Air district fire of 1961. Many residents of the area engaged in aviculture, or the practice of keeping and caring for birds, many of them exotic. It was reported that homeowners and firefighters set the birds free in their haste to evacuate the homes. The escapees are suspected to have formed the local population of that area.
In the San Fernando Valley, many residents attribute the flocks of parrots to the defunct Busch Gardens theme park at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Van Nuys. This theme park, which drew in patrons with free beer, various rides, and a bird sanctuary, operated from 1966 to 1977. The bird sanctuary, with over 1,500 birds of some 180 different species, became very popular among families. Eventually the rides were shut down to cut costs, yet the bird sanctuary survived. When the United States government seized a flock of 250 Amazon parrots smuggled from Mexico, the sanctuary was deemed a perfect new home for the birds. However, in 1979 the popularity of the birds dwindled while that of the beer continued to grow. Anheuser-Busch eventually decided to end the bird sanctuary’s stint at the park and use the land to expand the brewing operation.
The birds were shipped off to new homes, including the LA Zoo and several East Coast Busch Garden theme parks. Some thirty years later, however, Amazon parrots can be seen and heard all over the San Fernando Valley, but one can only speculate as to how they made their way out of the park.
It seems odd that these birds have managed to thrive in a foreign environment so far and different from their native Central and South America. If California had not been developed, however, these birds most likely would have died out long ago. Lush landscaping and horticulture practices have made it possible for these tropical parrots to survive. Non-native fruit and nut trees have provided an ample food source for them.
One of the dangers of a naturalized exotic animal is its potential to become invasive. Many people have speculated as to whether these naturalized parrots pose a threat to the native ecosystems. Although these birds are not sufficiently studied, so far it appears that they are a benign addition to the natural habitat, as they have had no negative effects on the native wildlife or plant life. This is most likely due to the fact that the parrots sustain themselves off non-native plant species, and therefore do not utilize many resources from the natural habitat.
Thus, it appears that these quirky little critters may be here to stay for years to come, which is welcome news: Two of the species, the Red-crowned Parrot and Yellow-headed Parrot, are endangered in their native habitat. Perhaps they have found a safe haven in which to rescue their species here in the urban jungle of Southern California.