Even though parrots regularly flap above our neighborhoods, we don't often find their feathers on the ground. I wonder why that is.
We decided not to touch it. Mom always said birds are dirty animals, and I suppose she was right, even when they're bright and beautiful and very, very loud.
20 comments:
My mother would say the same thing! lol... found this link on molting:
http://www.2ndchance.info/molt.htm
it pertains to cockatiels tho... two molts according to them.. one before breeding and one after they have babies....pretty interesting article tho.
I was lucky to get some photos of a military macaw that landed in my yard... gorgeous and loud squawker!.
KBF, that link looks interesting and detailed--I may take days to read it! I'd love to see your macaw pic, did you post it?
its not my best photo but will email it.
Never thought about it before--but after 34 years in Pasadena and Altadena and who knows how many hundred parrot sightings, I have never seen a feather on the ground. Ravens, scrub jays, finches, and so on--but never a parrot. So glad you posted this picture, it is beautiful.
And I'm sure if you wash your hands afterwards, it's OK to pick it up!
Thanks, KBF.
Laura, thanks for corroborating. I'm glad I'm not the only one. And now I'm regretting not picking up that feather!
I've never seen a parrot feather around here either. Beautiful colors. Love the contrast with the neutral sidewalk and leaves in the second photo.
Thanks, Susan. I also like that it definitely looks used.
The last parrot native to this area, the Carolina Parakeet, died in captivity in 1918, at the Cincinnati Zoo, a few years after his mate. Along with the Passenger Pigeon, they flew in massive flocks, estimated to be in the millions, darkening the sky for days. Settlers would shoot them, not even bothering to aim, and birds would fall from the sky. The parakeets ate the cockleburr, which kept it from overgrowing the farmers' fields. This is thought to have made the birds poisonous because cats died after eating them. The pigeon was regarded as a food source for slaves and poor people.
It seems you found a rare specimen!
and aren't birds constantly preening themselves? like cats they should be clean.
Found the whole bird once. Dead and in the gutter. Took it home and buried it in the back yard. Still here
That's a hell of a story, Speedway.
I guess I did, hamilton (the feather is rare, not the bird)!
Thanks for doing that, PA.
A dead parrot, PA? Cue a Monty Python sketch.... But seriously, for such abundant birds, they're very elusive, and leave very few traces, don't you think? I've never seen a feather, so it's a good thing you photographed it. It almost looks as though it's from a gift shop, the kind attached to a ballpoint pen. Birds are very clean - they love bird baths, and preen their feathers all the time. The mites on their skin must make them itchy, but they don't spread to humans. Kissing a parrot can give you psittacosis and salmonella, they say, but it must be very rare as I never got ill from the endless line of budgies (parakeets?) of my childhood. I wish I could have a couple of them in the house, it would complete my pet family. Though the cat might not agree.
I'll remember not to kiss any parrots.
Thanks for the feather, and the mother reference. I just remembered something I'd meant to write about, oh, dozens of times.
Gorgeous feather! Even if you regret not picking it up at least you have this great photo.
That's what friends are for, Karin.
Katie, maybe some other kid picked it up, and got scolded, and will have a story to tell.
Love the colors. Perhaps they are reincarnated elephants, which explains why we can't find their graveyards? Except for the one in PA's backyard.
Such great colors! I used to have a couple of parakeets and they were clean. But outdoor birds could be different, being exposed to the the larger world and all. I recall being told not to touch dead birds, especially starlings, because they carried disease.
Our parents had the information they had. I have no idea if birds carry disease or not, but it's a good bet a wild parrot is dirtier than a domestic parakeet.
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