Los Angeles Times

Threatened in their homeland, feral Mexican parrots thrive on LA’s exotic landscaping

Parrot specimens are seen inside the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

LOS ANGELES — During a walk through the Huntington Botanical Gardens with her mother one morning, Brenda Ramirez was alarmed by the sudden squawks, warbles, and screeches of troops of parrots flying overhead at great speed in tight, precise formations.

“I asked my mom what they were,” Ramirez recalled of that day 14 years ago. “She said, ‘Mija, they are just like the parrots from Mexico we’ve seen in zoos, except for one thing: They are free flying and breed in the trees along our city streets.'”

Ramirez was entranced by this

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