After we left Disneyland, we visited friends who live in Pacific Palisades. They live in a house that backs up to an undeveloped canyon. Pacific Palisades is a coastal community near Santa Monica. It’s really beautiful there. we parked in their driveway overnight. While our visit was delightful in many ways. However, the best part of the visit from a birding perspective was seeing their bird feeders and the birds who visited.
They had a bunch of House Finches, White-crowned Sparrows to spare (I counted 21 at one point), Gold-crowned Sparrows, Spotted Towhees, California Towhees, Western Scrub Jays, and Northern Mockingbirds. It was delightful. But the best part was at 4pm when the parrots arrived.
They are beautiful, exotic, and utterly delightful. I sat mesmerized as I watched them squawk and fuss at each other. They were skittish and cautious but came back again quickly after being startled. They are Black-hooded Parakeets . . . also called Nanaday Conures.
When they first arrived, a squirrel was trying to get at the feeders. He was unsuccessful. Although, he did win this confrontation. The birds flew off and left the feeders for a few minutes when he hissed at them.
Seeing six or seven parrots on two feeders was an amazing experience. Watch this video below and you’ll get a hint of how wonderful they are.
For more wild and wonderful birds, visit Bird Photography Weekly.
mother. wife. friend. teacher. writer. reader. photographer. birder. quilter. blogger.
Liza Lee Miller 
I like the photo of the bird-squirrel confrontation.
The parrot-squirrel moment was pretty amazing. Especially since a moment later, two more parrots joined the first on that feeder and the squirrel made a move on them and they left. I was sure it would go the other way.
Awesome captures Liza! I love those gorgeous tropical colors. Your friends are lucky to have such a beautiful backyard full of birds.
They have done such a great job with the feeders. That squirrel could not get to the feeders (good baffles in the trees). The nice thing was that the parrots are incredibly messy eaters and threw food all over the ground. The squirrel and sparrows and towhees and finches moved down there to eat while the parrots were hogging the feeders. It all worked.
lovely photos of lovely birds, they have so much character and their colours are gorgeous
the photos bring a smile to my face…always a joy to read the blog and see the photos. thanks Liza
Holy cow! I can’t even imagine having those coming to a feeder. So, these were at one time pets?
I doubt these birds were ever pets but their ancestors were. This flock has been known in this area for ages. Even as long lived as parrots are, I think we are looking at descendants of pets.
Wow..those are feeder birds..I want some!
Wow, Liza! This is so cool! I can’t even imagine parrots at my bird feeder!
What an amazing sight. How lucky to have such gorgeous creatures show up on a backyard feeder.
I love, love, love these photos (especially the squirrel v. parrot face-off.) Excellent work!
Just think. If humans had just left them alone, we could have Carolina Parakeets at our feeders. Right now.
Loved the pics, Liza. Especially the video…how did your friends get their feeder to hang sideways like that?
: )