Texas parrots

Even though it's the south, the sight of several hundred parrots in Brownsville, Texas is still unexpected. They tend to congregate together at the dusk in a local park. These are real, so-called "Amazon" parrots, and not parakeets. Since it's dark, it's hard to take good pictures, but I did manage a few.

This is a Lilac-Crowned Parrot:


And these two are Red-Crowned Parrots:




But there is a sight that beats seeing 100 parrots in a flock. And that's seeing 200 to 300 parrots! These are actually Green Parakeets, which roost in big numbers on the streets of McAllen, Tx:


While there, they colonized not just the wires, but also the sign for a certain franchise restaurant:




Here are better close-ups:






As this was the beginning of spring in Texas, the birds were in amorous moods:




They were also in a biting mood. I don't know why, but once in a while they would bite on whatever perch they were sitting on. Some experts watching them next to us thought that was a nest-building behavior. I am not so sure, but maybe they are right.






Finally, we found another interesting sight - a yellow Green Parakeet. According to the locals, she is a young bird that - by mutation - lacks blue pigment in her feathers. Here she is seen surrounded by both her parents: