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A feral parakeet sits on a power line as another
flies away. (AP)
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They fly through the park shrieking and squawking, their chartreuse
feathers flashing. Nobody in Florida, Mexico or another tropical place
would give them a second look.
But under the Pacific Northwest's lead-gray skies, a feral
flock of colorful parakeets flies around Seward Park, a 300-acre island
of green in southeast Seattle where they have taken up residence.
Needless to say, they're not natives.
"They're such an anomaly here. You can have the quietest, most
peaceful morning, and suddenly they're squawking and talking," said
Christina Gallegos, a Seattle Parks and Recreation Department naturalist
at Seward Park, who estimated the flock to be 20 to 24 strong.
The birds first showed up in Seward Park some time in the early
1990s. They're generally agreed to be crimson-fronted parakeets, native
to Central America. Marked with red patches on their faces, the green
parakeets are bigger than the typical pet budgie
most people are familiar with.
"For us, it's just fun," said avian devotee Fred Bird, a
past president of the Washington Ornithological Society who studies the
little band of parakeets.
The flock usually call Seward Park home but have been known to
migrate 5 miles north to another park in Seattle for part of the year.
The flock of parakeets undoubtedly began as pets who escaped from
their owners, Bird said. Such escapees are relatively common wherever
pet birds are kept.
"But usually, they don't live that long," Bird said.
These parakeets seem to have beaten the odds for several reasons:
They live in noisy flocks, which helps them stand guard against enemies
who would eat them, such as hawks, and they can tolerate a wide range of
food.
"They're very opportunistic," Bird said. "They're omnivores,
and can eat anything, cedar tree seeds, fruit, things like that,
apples."
Changing weather patterns and warmer temperatures in the region have
likely helped the tropical birds survive, Bird said..
"The climate is comfortable for them," Bird said.
"Whether they could have survived here 100 years ago when the
climate was substantially cooler, I don't know."
Certainly, they're not the only exotic bird escapees living wild in
the Northwest. Vancouver, Canada is home to some well-known Crested
Mynahs.
Gayle Peters, the owner of Just Parrots, a shop near Seward Park,
said the feral parakeets are reasonably intelligent birds, which likely
helps them survive an alien environment.
"We don't have extreme temperatures here, extreme hot or
cold," Peters said. "In winters, they're probably in trees,
nesting together. They do adapt very well."
Birders in the area say that the parakeets will visit home bird
feeders from time to time.
"I would think in this area, they would eat anything and
everything they could find," Peters said.
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它们尖叫着飞过公园，浅黄绿色的羽毛（在阳光下）闪烁。在佛罗里达、墨西哥和其他热带地区，没有人会多看它们一眼。
但是在太平洋西北部铅灰色的天空下，一群色彩绚丽的野生鹦鹉在苏渥公园周围盘旋。这座公园位于西雅图东南部一个面积为300英亩的绿色岛屿上，这些鸟儿们在这里“安家落户”。
勿庸置疑，它们不是“当地居民”。
“在这里，它们是另类。你本可以享受最宁静、最安谧的清晨，可突然间它们又叫又闹。”克里斯蒂娜·加莱戈斯说。她是西雅图公园和娱乐部门的博物学家，她估计这群鸟有20到24只。
早在上世纪90年代初，这些鸟儿首次出现在苏渥公园。它们被公认为是原产于中美洲的一种头部呈深红色的长尾小鹦鹉。这种头部有着显著的红色斑纹的绿鹦鹉比人们熟悉的那种典型的宠物相思鹦鹉要大一些。
“在我们看来，这就是好玩而已。”爱鸟者佛瑞德·伯德说。他是华盛顿鸟类学会前任会长，专门研究这一小群长尾小鹦鹉。
这群鹦鹉通常把苏渥公园当作自己的家，目前已知它们每年有一段时间会往北迁移5英里，迁往西雅图的另一个公园。
伯德说，无庸置疑，这群鹦鹉原本是从主人那里逃出来的宠物鸟。在养宠物鸟的地方，这种“逃亡者”比较常见。
“但通常它们不会活那么久。”伯德说。
这些鹦鹉能够奇迹般存活下来是有几个原因的：它们在一起的时候总是吵吵闹闹的，这有助于它们对老鹰等天敌保持警惕；它们还能适应各种各样的食物。
伯德说：“它们是十足的机会主义者。它们是杂食动物，什么都能吃，雪松子、水果、比如苹果什么的。”
伯德认为，这一地区多变的天气状况和不断上升的气温可能有利于这种热带鸟儿的生存。
他说：“这里的气候对它们来说很舒适，我不知道如果在一百年前他们是否能在这里生存，当时的气候比现在要冷得多。”
当然，它们并不是唯一生活在（美国）西北地区的外来鸟类的逃亡者。加拿大温哥华是有名的带冠毛八哥的栖居地。
盖尔·彼得斯是苏渥公园附近一家名叫Just Parrots的商店的主人，他说这种野生的长尾小鹦鹉相当聪明，可能正是它们的智慧帮助它们在陌生的环境中生存下来。
彼得斯说：“我们这里的温差变化不算大，既不会太热也不会太冷。冬天的时候，它们很可能待在树上，共同筑巢。它们确实很好地适应了这里的环境。”
这一带的猎鸟者称这些鹦鹉有时会“拜访”养鸟人。
“我想在这个地方，这些鸟儿会吃掉它们能够找到的任何食物，全部食物。”彼得斯说。
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