A recent post from the blog The Cat on My Head related to birds reminded me of the Nanday Parakeets we attracted to our bird feeders back in 2004. This photo is from September, 2004.

These birds are also known as Black Hooded Parakeets and Nanday Conures. They are from South America. Wikipedia says they are escaped pets but I read a different story years ago. It seems there are several theories but one stands out. A mass escape from an importer during a hurricane or other event released dozens, or even hundreds of birds.

They look similar to Quaker Parots but they sound much different. They have sharp, piercing squawks. When I hear them, I know instantly what they are before I see them. I recently started seeing them near our house where we are living now. it turns out my neighbor across the alley, and two houses down has a bird feeder that attracts them. I removed food that attracts rats from our feeder, so they don’t come to our house, unfortunately.