Wild parrots find new home in Southern California after nearly going extinct in Mexico

Joy Benedict takes an in depth look at the wild parrots that have recently begun to take up home in Southern California, moving to the area from Mexico after nearly going extinct.

[@JoAnnQuigley-lw2ui]

I’d take parrots noise over traffic and loud car radios!!

[@LuMoRo34]

Don't worry, you'll soon have both.....

[@megacoraltree576]

​@@LuMoRo34 it's almost as if we aren't the only animals on this planet

[@MinervaAlvarez-dx3jc]

Beauty!

[@YamIa3gypsy]

I don’t mind them at all. Really quite a beautiful sight to see.

[@ChrisB-xw7un]

I remember seeing my first one in my backyard. I thought it was someone’s pet and was trying to figure out a way to capture it until I realized 😅

[@Jimmyxsx]

Wait till they settle in a tree by your home😂 they are loud.

[@jandoxbsbnx]

they are loud and poop everywhere in your yard ... obnoxious

[@dormantmenace]

Yup.. this comment reminds me of people who think the same about deer. Cause they have zero experience with them destroying their property.

[@dormantmenace]

​@ChrisB-xw7un oh I've captured them. They bite! Very very hard. Even with gloves and expecting it.

[@ldeleon8748]

They have been in covina and Pasadena for many years

[@Gloria-ro4vn]

Redlands too

[@dethray1000]

yeah a truck overturned in pasadena about 1920--been squaking there ever since

[@discoverFigureitout]

@@dethray1000lol cause they sold them at the swamp meet for 50$ a bird ?

[@commanderbell1965]

I seen them in San Pedro in 1986

[@fatteebaddee]

Been spotting them in San Diego for years as well

[@_bones562]

The Rumor is they were released from a old Pet Store in Whitter CA that burned down yearsssss ago.

[@Arlo360-Official]

There's another story that claims they were released from Marineland of the Pacific in Palos Verdes.

[@andrewserrata1813]

​@@Arlo360-OfficialThat would make sense since they're all over Long Beach.

[@omarvaquero4672]

I was told that they started in el Cajon CA and they spread out through other areas of San Diego. I started seeing them in San Diego as early as 2019.

[@Lovell-dc9vb]

Nope there came from the pet store that burn down in Pasadena evvvvvvvveeeerrrryyyy body in Pasadena considered them a nuisance after 25 years

[@cymeriandesigns]

The same story is told about a pet store in San Diego's Ocean Beach. They were even called the OB parrots around here, though I've now been seeing -- or rather hearing -- them all over San Diego.

[@snowbirdlady7221]

We had the parrots in OC since the 80's, or earlier. They would fly in and fill the eucalyptus trees and you definitely knew when they arrived. I used to call them the crazy parrots. Loved them.

[@j.solano]

Yep! I used to work by the courthouse in downtown and they'd always fly by in the evenings. Everyone loved them.

[@ilovegodzilla]

These parrots have been in the SGV for many decades. Funny that they are now reporting on this. There are so many urban legends as to how they got here.

[@thomasgentry6201]

San Diego since 80s thought escaped pet Love Birds?

[@andrewserrata1813]

Long Beach too, I also saw a video on KZbin about them being in Texas as well.

[@user-zf3xb3qx8w]

@Rurban legends in the SGV abound since 1934

[@MD-ky4ho]

If you do a little research, you will find articles about them. I guarantee you this is not the first news report about them. 😂

[@jlee4768]

It's been reported on numerous times. You just failed to notice.

[@endosilva1649]

I like seeing them. I see them in the SGV everyday up in the palm trees.

[@doneaton6704]

I remember flocks of parrots in Manhattan & Redondo Beach forty years ago when I lived there.

[@samanthasimental3788]

My son lives in Redlands and when I visit take a walk with my grand children to see the parrots. Over 50 maybe more. I love them.

[@igi-chan]

We have THOUSANDS in our neighborhood! They fill the trees!

[@rh5563]

They’ve been here strong for over 30 years. Great journalism guys. You did something truthful. Shameful that it took 30 + years to do a story on them.

[@user-bs4ck6zy8v]

😂👏🏽👏🏽

[@bobdenton1]

Devil’s advocate… Which one ☝️ of us did a fact check on journalism from the previous century?

[@Sky_Writer]

Busch Bird Sanctuary (formerly Anheuser-Busch Gardens, a little amusement park in the SFValley when I was a kid), was part of the Anheuser-Busch brewery property in Van Nuys. When they closed the sanctuary, they just opened the walk-through aviary gates and walked away. It was typical to see trees full of legacy parrots around CSUN and Devonshire Downs (Northridge), all the time back in the 80s and 90s.

[@devingray1761]

As a 90s baby born in van nuys I never knew that brewery ever had a park. I vaguely remember seeing part of it closed down as a kid but never knew what it was. I learned something today.

[@slyley5]

tropical paradise for these parrots🌴

[@hermosafieldsforever4782]

We Love our Parrots!! They are wonderful and adorable!❤❤❤

[@mikef8085]

We gotta protect them here!!❤

[@kjpcgaming9296]

I remember back in the 80's when this started. I lived in Temple City at the time. I thought the ones in LA came from parrots getting loose. They were very rare then.

[@hermosafieldsforever4782]

That's correct. When the parrot was threatened with extinction in the 50's pet shops in California started buying them. We have a serious wonderful population thriving in Redondo. We love them, most of our neighborhood parrots came from a shop that let 30 or 40 go in the 60's. They love date palm😅❤❤❤

[@iceman96795]

There have been large flocks in south east LA since the late 70s. Many fruit trees in these areas and many older folks would leave trays with peanuts and apple slices for them to eat

[@MarilynOPossum]

The landscaping in LA is a bonanza for them.

[@jdu2580]

We got em here in Long Beach CA, but those hawks are on the prowl

[@mrfish3971]

Arizona also has wild parrots living in the down town area. They live in the saguaro cactus and palm trees.

[@thomasrussell7135]

Those would be lovebirds

[@beatpirate8]

they are in sf too! i love them

[@emilioaymat5651]

I've seen em several times in Dolores Park

[@mhm6]

2 weeks ago I had to go outside my home and see what all the noise was. Saw those birds on some telephone lines

[@User5_]

Nothing new...I have seen them in the SGV for 15+ years lol. My parents have said they've been here since the 70's..

[@pepelefrog1121]

Liberal socialist news want libsocs to feel good and special about it.

[@fuzzy3440]

I remember camping at a boy scout camp in Santa Monica, Camp Josepho, and there were wild parrots in the trees near the remains of an old home. I think there were some avacado trees planted there. This was during the 1980's.

[@PaulaDautremont]

What "new" home? There have been flocks of wild parrots where I live in So Cal for decades.

[@annarcher5198]

Even the birds are crossing the border, lol

[@turboduran2531]

😅

[@bigfoot163]

They got brought here ILLEGALY, 😂😂😂 black market trade... you know just like all the kids 😂😂😂 DEMOCRATS SUCK

[@pepelefrog1121]

Hurry and teach them that conservatives are the racistones, my liberal socialist ally!

[@axxxc]

I get them crossing state lanes but the border 😮

[@renereyes4999]

😂😂😂😂

[@TheRDprod]

It’s awesome seeing them in temple city/alhambra, sure they are loud in the morning but that just means it’s time to start the day, I love watching them fly

[@buckskin64]

Los Angeles is like a jungle 😂😂

[@Mutlap]

was at White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas about 15 years ago and saw parrots nesting in a condo nest. That's a large communal nest. (About 20 pairs)Solid Green long tails

[@stevegonzales527]

They are seen a lot in Malibu. Ended up having one after seen it get injured by a hawk years back

[@Toobz20]

Malibu parrots are great

[@_uchris]

Hopefully Newsome doesn't charge them rent

[@fluxcapacitor1621]

Hopefully, you'll get an education.

[@Gloria-ro4vn]

Not to worry as long as they're classified as Illegal.

[@PaulaDautremont]

@@Gloria-ro4vn What are you two, a sister act?

[@afishcalledminnewawa]

he'll just offer them abortions

[@andrewserrata1813]

​@@Gloria-ro4vnTypical of the current Republican party's intellectually challenged members. If only people like you didn't embarrass real Republicans.

[@alwaysbekindlove]

I spotted an owl yesterday on a walk. It could be because we had so much rain and there’s a lot more fruit. I hope we get more rain

[@SkreetGil]

I love them. They are in Orange County too. So beautiful.🐦💚

[@youtubemademecreateanewcha6965]

Parrots like these flew around Orange County in the 80’s. Made lots of noise but much better than having crows.

[@kingknights5107]

Parrots so beautiful..

[@BEBESSCHET-rs7ir]

Good thing Bush gardens released a bunch back in the day

[@Whiteknuckler57]

Yep - that is how it started

[@callen8908]

Decades ago I lived at Venice Beach, and wild parrots took up residence in a huge king palm tree. They really raised a racket sometimes but I loved them

[@ecastaneda51]

I started seeing them in sycamore canyon about 7 years ago. Its nice seeing them and hearing them while mountain biking.

[@StinkinGoodAle3241]

I love them.

[@nouarnaim]

Awesome 👏 stay in USA 🇺🇸 I love mexico 🇲🇽 ❤

[@mrich9654]

Precious things

[@user-zf3xb3qx8w]

For decades in El Monte the mourning doves would wake up in our Valencia Orange tree, and then leave for the day. I rode my bike around and found them....way up in the palm trees. The area has turned into a wintering area for raptors, so the doves went UP.

[@ACEDIAMOND666]

There's multiple flocks in Yucaipa year round...

[@pppantz]

I left Los Angeles in 2001. We had green parrots and macaws (!) in Hollywood before I left.

[@IGYY-theReal1]

Yellow chevroned parakeets are everywhere in my school. They are so cute and fluffy but so loud I love it!😂❤

[@hahnf9796]

I've seen them for years in Huntington Beach. They are so awesome to see!

[@stacey8501]

made it here to Orange many years ago! Love them!

[@zambot3325]

Its like a story from 1985

[@michaelroach8704]

They've been in the Reche Canyon area at least since the early 90s.

[@me6057]

😂😂 the news lol ofc

[@lukedeleonardo7924]

Saw them a few yrs ago in trees in a Costco parking lot of all places. I was confused AF. Glad I caught this. Learning has occurred!

[@fionnmaccumhaill3257]

I was told in the late 80's that they were released or escaped from the Santa Ana Zoo.

[@onegreenev]

Wild Parrots have been in Southern California for decades. What the heck are you talking about. We counted on them moving from one area to another daily twice per day. Like clockwork. Yes, they are loud but I really liked them. Pretty cool. This was back in 69 and through out the time I lived there and even when I visited they were still there.

[@stampscapes]

Used to see a flock of them flying around Long Beach State back in the 80's once in a while when I was going to school there but they were all green from what I recall.

[@bryantnojang709]

Literally hear them every morning and evening as they fly out their roost

[@TonyMaldonado-cv6lv]

They're from El Cajon originally. Some man from Tecate brought them over as Pets. In the *90s* (in San Diego County) the city of El Cajon was the only place you could find them. They Migrated from the East-Side of the city to the West-Side and areas in between. From their, theyre Population got Bigger and they Started traveling to Imperial Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach, Chula Vista, La Jolla all the way to Escondido and Oceanside. Wow now there in LA?

[@everythingisfine9988]

Hawks keep their numbers in check. Seen a hawk attempt to catch one before

[@steven4315]

That's good in a necessary way.

[@presidion11guy32]

Have seen them for years in Pico Rivera, Whittier, La Habra. They are very loud and amazing to watch when several dozen are flying about.

[@MO-ko8uy]

these parrots have been in redlands for decades. the flock has become so big.

[@JOEDIRTERULEZ]

"PARROT PARADISE" NICE

[@INoahGuy914]

South Florida has a bunch of green parrots too lol. I always know when they’re around from their particular sound.

[@fernandomaciasjr7638]

There’s some right here in national city ,San Diego

[@sunracer1869]

Shout out National City 👍🏻

[@kevint1911]

We’ve had them in my East San Diego county neighborhood for years. They are noisy and annoying, but I wouldn’t want them to go extinct.

[@al28854]

check out the docu. 'The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill' (2003), We have them here in San Francisco too, and they can be loud.

[@LilyCorowsky]

They are loud but sound lovely, unlike those horrible crows and ravens. Those ones should go extinct asap.

[@cynthiapickett7403]

Some of those parrots are also descended from the original Busch Gardens amusement park in Van Nuys.

[@KeolahiwahiwaPham]

We have them in Santa Ana too! I love them.

[@ellenbryn]

When I bought my condo in '08 I was delighted to find red-crowned parrots were the neighborhood alarm clock. We seem to have a small splinter group from the big flock in Tustin.

[@YsabetJustYsabet]

I'm in Arizona and we've got Rosy-faced Lovebirds (a type of small parrot) living in Phoenix and other places since the '80s; they're pet-trade escapees that bred and flourished, and they like Phoenix's palm trees and cacti to live in. There's another species (Thick-billed parrots) that pretty much died out that's been reintroduced and is doing really well; parrots are great opportunists, and why not?

[@Casitascrawlers]

They have been at Sycamore Canyon for years you can see & hear them all over up in the Sycamore trees.

[@j.f.7576]

Grew up in the 70's and they have been around since then.

[@jonathanpark7658]

They have been flying around for at least 30 years... Good job talking about it now...

[@MD-ky4ho]

I’m pretty sure this is not the first news report about them. 😂

[@jonathanpark7658]

@@MD-ky4ho They just make it seem that way. lol

[@dannysands9341]

I love them i saw them here in the san fernando valley

[@mikethorson7243]

They have thrived in Pasadena for decades

[@lalodaniels1388]

In Long Beach around Wilson High School for well over a decade.

[@lancelothogben1297]

Those cuties! We love them in our nabe! Their funny metallic noise makes me laugh every time I hear them.

[@PAPABRAY619]

We have them in SD too. Just saw them yesterday. Seen em my whole life

[@WiskinWaffles]

They’re so beautiful. Gives LA Character !

[@ihpooi7330]

Yes they are in San Diego in El Cajon city I miss them

[@yammt3148]

I don't mind the noise. It's better than hearing people.

[@RedBroski]

I live in SoCal and I've never seen them... I wonder why!? I wanna see parrots 😮

[@donaldperea7069]

I live in pasadena, and I see them a lot on the telephone wires just over orangegrove and N.Oakland Ave. I think they are beautiful

[@bh-zj4yt]

We have had lots of parrots in San Diego for the last ten years

[@armortodd5162]

There were wild parrots in Arcadia, CA when I grew up there in the early 50s. Several times a year they would spend a few days in our neighborhood trees. Along with the peacocks of course.

[@mandocool]

Really quite charming

[@cedricksamaniego9146]

They are all over ❤

[@sailinbob11]

Yeah... we've got green parrots here in Tampa. They're noisy but i rarely see em and i live anchored on my sailboat in Tampa Bay. They tend to move around. Probably originally escaped from Bush Gardens. Strangely I've never seen a bigger parrot , or macaw, in the wild, and I've been living in S. Tampa , on and off, since the 60s. Last 15 years aboard. Good on em as long as they're not pooping on your car.

[@bd3966]

Oh that explains the parrots I saw in my neighborhood a few weeks ago. I was so confused. We have had wild parrots here in a certain part of san diego for years, but just not in my neighborhood, more must have come from mexico.

[@williamlondon6269]

They were in Santa Monica in the 80's

[@VVhistory]

I remember when we first heard 2 parrots, they were very rare at the time, seeing them in great numbers is great, i am sure i am one of the very few who know the ones by USC, that's where it started

[@Derpy1969]

Double Yellow headed parrots are awesome!

[@jrh0369]

I see about only six of them in Oceanside. My daughter loves seeing them.

[@desselbane4872]

Those birds have been wild for over 30 years! Someone mentioned below about a pet store fire and that’s what I remember

[@peacejoy1396]

These guys have been here for awhile, I remember when I would go to my high school a bunch of these guys would be hanging out if front of the school on the telephone wires. You could tell that they were parrots because of how loud they would be

[@rosaspanjol673]

That’s so beautiful to know!😘…Yay😘💕😘!!

[@christopherdiaz8666]

They've been in Whittier for well over 5 years now. It's kinda annoying when there's 20 of them right outside my windows squawking at 6am.

[@jesusflores9108]

They be landing in my front yard, a whole gang of em, in Ontario California on a tree that has purple moras like blackberries

[@DeenaMilkers]

people should be so lucky to enjoy them

[@darklyclad]

❤❤❤❤❤PARROTSSS! ❤❤❤❤❤

[@alwaysbekindlove]

Has anyone noticed a lot more monarch butterflies? Maybe we’re getting those too❤❤❤❤

[@MD-ky4ho]

I very rarely see those. Always see the El Segundo butter fly.

[@yo-jz4ri]

“Some people really like them” cuts to dude handling stuffed dead corpse of said parrot

[@brendacalero2418]

I live in Whittier and I love to see them travel east in the morning and west in the evening 🥰🥰. They are beautiful and don’t bother me at all. I rather hear that than my neighbors ugly music 😂😂.

[@patriciaschuster1371]

Welcome, Parrots!

[@brucewestoby]

Have lots in Orange love to see them.. the red crowned ones ...noisy but love the chirping . Have two rescues,a sennie and a conure....my soul mates for ten and fourteen years respectively.