Question of How Wild Parrots Flew the Coop Is Up in the Air

Ah, Southern California. The wind in the palms. The hum of the traffic. The squawk of the parrot.

Yes, high in the air, its wings beating furiously, a bright green parrot with a blazing yellow head penetrates the haze of the San Fernando Valley.

Also seen on the Westside and in the San Gabriel Valley, Amazon parrots native to Mexico and Central America are being spotted in increasing numbers in the Valley, generally near lush vegetation where the birds nest and feed.

No one knows for sure how many of the feral fowl--escaped pets and their offspring--live in Southern California. Bird experts estimate that there may be close to 1,000. And the number is growing.

Kimball Garrett, ornithology collections manager for the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, said natural population growth may have produced many L.A. parrots that have never lived behind bars.

In the United States, only southern Florida and Hawaii have larger wild parrot populations than Los Angeles.

The number of wild parrots in their native habitats is dwindling because forests are rapidly being cleared. And they are being caught for export as pets.

The birds can range in price from $20 to $9,000 in pet shops. Yellow-headed parrots, among the most common species in Southern California, cost $500 to $1,000, said Lloyd Bremseth, owner of Birds Plus in Van Nuys.

The tales of how the parrots ended up on the loose in Los Angeles differ.

Some speculate that the birds escaped when the roof of an aviary was destroyed. Others say it was a pet shop fire about two decades ago that sent dozens of parrots fluttering to freedom. Bird-watchers say smugglers will sometimes liberate their shipments when faced with arrest.

In the Valley, some suspect that the birds are escapees from the old Busch Gardens at the Anheuser-Busch brewery in Van Nuys. Hundreds may have fled private cages, possibly working their way through the bars with their powerful beaks.

Garrett said that the population cannot be traced to one or two isolated releases. “It’s the result of unintentional and intentional releases over the years,” he said.

Little research has been done on the parrots. Although the birds are extremely social among themselves, sometimes squawking to one another at all hours of the night, they are shy when it comes to humans.

Few bird-watchers have found nests or seen the birds doing anything except zipping overhead.

“I hear them more than I see them,” said Millie Newton, executive secretary of the Los Angeles Audubon Society.

Seventy years ago, the parrots would not have survived in Southern California’s dry climate. The passion for lush landscaping has created a hospitable environment. Garrett said several species make their nests in palm fronds, feeding on fruit and nuts.

Some species of exotic birds were eradicated several years ago by state agriculture officials because they devoured crops in Southern California.

Garrett said, however, that the parrots so far have posed no significant threat to what agriculture remains in the Valley, and that they appear to have little or no harmful effect on native birds.

But Bremseth sees a downside to having parrots everywhere.

“If people can see parrots in their back yard, why would they want to buy one from me?”