Only in Miami.. lol maccaw at the park

[Fran101]

Well, many years ago the park in Miami called "parrot jungle" was hit with a hurricane and MANY of their exotic birds escaped
fastforward and these birds are now thriving and breeding here.. as it seems all exotic animals LOVE to do in florida lol

and so now, when you are walking around the park.. you see something like this..

[/IMG]

my mom sent this picture to me this morning lol he and his friends were enjoying an afternoon meal and this guy came close to give her lunch a closer look

just thought it was cute!

 

[HayleyMarie]

aww that is adorable. I want that bird lol

 

[MPP]

MUCH nicer-looking than those pythons! Or (ick!) the monkeys. Who wouldn't want to look at something that pretty at lunchtime?

 

[Beanie]

How cool to have birds like that just hanging around in the park!

 

[Kat09Tails]

It's all fun and games until someone lets a quaker go... then it's just deafening. LOL

 

[Xandra]

That's so cool. I would've thought people would have caught and sold them.

 

[TehNando]

Pretty!

That building with the round balconies looks so familiar! AH!

 

[Romy]

Sometimes I think we should just transplant a whole slew of endangered tropical animals to Florida and let them duke it out with the natives. lol.

 

[Domestika]

Someone here had a bird exactly like that as a pet. They had its wings clipped and left it in their backyard. It came in to us at the emergency animal hospital when it was attacked by a raccoon. In the backyard. Where it was, alone. At 3am. In October.

So, while I'm not a fan of exotics being introduced into a foreign habitat...it's probably better than being kept by people!

 

[Fran101]

They are very very pretty! (and very loud) lol

Here is a great flikr slideshow of a bunch found in Miami, we have all kinds of maccaws, quakers, etc.. they often hang out on balconys since our trees are quite short and they are used to taller perches
The Wild Parrots of Miami - a set on Flickr

As far as people catching them... they are pretty well protected.
they mostly sleep/spend nights in the city and on balconys/on top of buildings.. only during the day will you see them in trees and out and about at "human" level

Here is a great example, we also have very very cute conures!

A lot of them have "home" balconys lol one of my cousins apartment is home to a small group! They live there and sleep there and she sometimes puts food out for them... they are very smart and stick to where they are safe.

 

[LilahRoot]

Cool!

I really think you would have to be a numbskull to try and catch one of those macaws. Want to lose a finger or a hand, that would be the way to do it!

I got nailed by a hawk headed parrot who was supposedly friendly. He just decided in a split second that he didn't like me, and it was NOT fun.

 

[Romy]

That is pretty cool. I think I'd like having a resident flock of conures far better than pigeons. lol. You could probably sort of tame them down, but not have to worry about providing everything in the world for them to be happy and they'd get to be all free and socialized with their own kind.

And no way would I try and catch a macaw! lol. My boss had one he got for free when it attacked someone at its former owner's party. The guy's forearm was laid open from wrist to elbow. He needed a LOT of stitches to close it back up.

Another friend took her family on a vacation to Peru. They stayed at some parrot sanctuary hotel for a few days. There was one parrot who was totally unstable. Reggie or something? He bit his way through the wooden door like some kind of deranged screeching jackhammer, into her kids' room, and attacked her son. Luckily he wasn't hurt but the bird bit his sneaker in half. They kept the ruined shoe as a souvenir.

 

[Xandra]

Ha ha well I wouldn't try and catch one but there are people who, aware of the risk, fry themselves pulling out copper wire, so I figured for a selling price of $1000 or something people would be out there with leather gloves. lol (well that's what one would go for here, maybe in FL they're cheaper.

 

[MPP]

Just look at that beak! Leather gloves or not, that bird could take a finger off--or worse! Why would anybody want one for a pet anyway? Let them live out there in the trees, making the world beautiful.

 

[Dizzy]

It's very cute, but I do wonder how it lives and competes with the native birds!! It's the inner zoologist in me

 

[Fran101]

It's very cute, but I do wonder how it lives and competes with the native birds!! It's the inner zoologist in me

lol I have no idea..

Quakers (which aren't native), the maccaws (which aren't native), the conures (which aren't native) and pigeons & mockingbirds & those black birds are basically the majority..which leads me to believe they drove out most other species.
I think most florida native birds tend to stay away from the city and live in the everglades and other like areas

I can't imagine very many birds would be able to stand up to a maccaw! they are huge!

 

[Dizzy]

Generally if a non-native species survives its to the detriment of a native species. Like the grey squirrels out competing the reds in the UK etc.