CSULB goes to the birds

The George Allen Field is not only enjoyed by Cal State Long Beach golf and archery students, but by South American parakeet feeding off of surrounding foliage.

The local flock of Mitred Conure, or Mitred Parakeet that fly overhead or feed on campus number 35-38 and are especially attracted to the Eucalyptus trees on the eastern side of the campus when they are in bloom, CSULB biology professor Charles Collins said.

"They particularly like to feed off of the pink Eucalyptus flowers in the morning, most likely getting their sugar rush. Later in the day they can be seen flying over campus, around 4 to 4:30 p.m.," said Collins.

"I'm sure that some students find them noisy, while most are oblivious and totally unaware," referring to CSULB students response to the parakeets.

The parakeet is a native to Bolivia, Peru and South America. Normally a tropical species, the Mitred Conure is able to exist in Southern California and in Southern Florida due to the tropical climates and the availability of exotic plants in the two areas. "Eighty percent of the items they are seen eating are exotic," Collins said.

The parakeet has managed to slowly establish a local colony in the Los Angeles basin over the past seven to eight years, along with several other breeds of the exotic birds usually kept as pets.

According to Kimball Garrett's recent article in the magazine Western Tanager, a September Audobon Society publication, parrots and parakeets have escaped as long as people have had the imported birds as pets. Once the birds escape, they have stayed in the urban and suburban areas where exotic foliage has been made readily available to them.

The possibility of seeing the birds in full flock formation is October through April. They tend to pair up and mate during the later part of spring and into the fall. Collins said that the parrots roost and might possibly nest in the Belmont Shore area near the base of the Belmont Pier.

The flock seems to be a mixture of birds that steer clear of humans and often seem to be more casually inclined to sweep closer to humans as they fly by. "A few years ago when the fichus trees on campus were in full bloom the parrots would fly overhead screeching just a few feet from the tops of students heads," Collins said, "Some would notice, while others would walk along oblivious to the commotion."

The Mitred Conure is one of possibly eight to ten exotic parakeets that have been increasing their numbers in the wild throughout the Los Angeles basin.

A program is underway, implemented by Garrett, through the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History, to track all of the species parrots and parakeets that have managed to successfully colonize in a climate non-indigenous to them. According to Garrett, the parrots can be spotted by their dark olive green feathers. Wearing a red mask, while in flight the parrots show of a lighter yellow-olive underside.

The body of the Mitred Conure is stocky and measures approximately a foot in height, without taking into consideration the notoriously long tail feathers.