Where is the Green Parrot? - # 08/227
Green Parrots have been spreading slowly all over London following the escape from captivity of a pair several years ago. They eat the mortar of old houses and now they are invading my apple tree.
Can you see him / her / it?
I found it!
ReplyDeleteIsn't London climat too cold for parrots? I always thought it was.
ahhh those cute (not) cockney sparrows... they certainly are getting more predatory and forcing out our other local bird life...
ReplyDeleteA joke?
ReplyDelete@Peter and @Irina......No it's not a joke. The pesky things are thriving all over London and they really do "eat" the old buildings. At 17th Century Ham House they actualy have breakfast hanging on the brick walls, eating the 17th C cement....they like the taste!!!
ReplyDeleteWhat is it in mortar that they find attractive? I am no expert, but this does not look like an Australian Green Parrot. Phew! If they are spreading all over London in just a few years, my guess is that this is not an "it".
ReplyDeleteI have seen that in some parts of west London where these blighters roost over night, there is a fear that the droppings (chewed up Ham House!) may even be a health hazard on the sports pitches...
ReplyDeletehttp://artisttonysblog.blogspot.com/2006/12/29-december.html
this one is from a year or so back on Richmond riverside
:o)
Too right, Tony. Blighters is the right word for these sweet little extroverts. BTW...nice to see your comments. Ironically I was musing over your whereabouts only a day or so ago. Always, like to peek at your site from time to time.
ReplyDeleteBlighters! A new name for the squirrels in my yard. Don't let Abe Lincoln hear me say that. Seems like a tummy full of cement would make for a slow takeoff! That is fascinating reading today and I love the little devil hiding in the greenery.
ReplyDeleteI see him! Sure it's a him...And a lovely old apple tree.
ReplyDeletewe have similar problems here with escapted cockatoos etc. Man creates these problems. Keep birds as pets, let them escape et voila! nature takes its course. Nothing worse than the pigeons tho.
Fun photo. And a curious story. While natural migratory birds are in decline, the foreign johnnies are taking over
ReplyDeleteBBC radio has an interesting series on migrations which you can listen to online
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/worldonthemove/
I always thought that these exotic species could never survive if let loose because local species would persecute them before they got a chance to breed. So the parrot is the green pigeon of the future
So they discovered that cement is nourishing!
ReplyDeleteTu es drôle ! Tu es en grande forme en ce moment, Chuckeroon !
ReplyDeleteHe, she ou it semble bien installé dans ton arbre, comme dans les arbres en Australie. Ce que c'est que d'avoir un eucalyptus chez le voisin ! On se prend pour Dieu, on importe des espèces non indigènes et bientôt il va y avoir des koalas et des kangourous partout en Angleterre. Ce sera toujours mieux pour nous que de faire concurrence au vin français, puisque le climat se réchauffe.
(Quelle est cette variété de pomme ?)
Les espèces "étrangères" survivent mieux Richard, car elels n'ont pas de prédateur spécifique. C'est le cas de l'écureuil gris américain qui occupe la niche écologique de notre rouquin, du crapaud buffle qui chasse la reinette verte ou de la tortue de Californie plus aggressive que la tortue d'Hermann...
ReplyDelete