Endangered parrots now call Texas home

The red-crowned parrot, pushed out of its Northeast Mexico home by poaching and habitat loss, has found a new home in urban South Texas.

The species has been given native species status in the state.

Most would not picture an urban area — such as Brownsville, Harlingen, Weslaco and Mcallen — as the perfect home for an endangered parrot, but researchers at Texas A&M University said the birds have built surprising niches for themselves in the area. Many species are harmed when humans pollute and deforest habitats in favor of expanding urban areas, but these green parrots with red feathers on their heads have made the best of the situation.

Researchers recently published their findings on the bird in the scientific journal Diversity.

Poachers have stolen eggs or chicks out of nests to sell for hundreds of dollars in Northeast Mexico. Some birds were sold across the border during the 1980s, which is one factor in how around 900 parrots have found a new home for themselves in Texas.

The bird is now the mascot of Brownsville, according to a news release.

“Parrots are popular pets in places like South Texas and Latin America,” Simon Kiacz, a graduate student who worked on the research project, said in the news release. “Unfortunately, most people, even law enforcement officers, don’t realize that these parrots are protected.”

When species adapt to urban environments, they can be considered invasive, but the parrots have been able to use resources humans leave behind to make their homes, Kiacz said. The birds are looking for well-watered plants that bear fruits and seeds and that stay healthy all year-round. The birds also have been eating nonnative plants, which means they are not competing with local animals for food.

“All of the palm trees that we plant in South Texas are non-native,” Kiacz explained in the release. “They eventually die, and then woodpeckers come and make holes that are perfect nesting cavities for these parrots. But they’re also happy to use holes in the sides of buildings.”

The downside?

The birds cause quite the racket, said Donald Brightsmith, a professor of veterinary pathobiology at Texas A&M.

“You’ll often see these birds roosting together,” Brightsmith said in the news release. “They sleep in groups of a hundred or more, and they may end up choosing someone’s front yard, even right over the mailbox. Then, when it gets light outside, they’ll start making noise and flying around. Some people find that to be a nuisance.”