Not a word about the ongoing war in this post.
Yesterday, literally out of the blue sky, a green feathered visitor landed on my brother-in-law and his wife’s porch. They live next-door to us, so my kids and myself were prompty invited to see the newcomer.
A gorgeous green parrot was there, taking a clear interest in everything and munching away on some fruit they gave him. Apparently, he noticed my BIL and began loudly chirping at him, and so the interaction began.
After some online research, it was clear that this was a rose-ringed parakeet – an invading species living in the wild in Israel. In fact, we have a flock of about 30 of these tropical birds living in our neighborhood, so we suspected this was one of them. They are known locally as “Drara” and are considered a pest in the eyes of farmers – although they are a protected species and as such cannot be hunted down.
This guy, fondly named “Mossy” by my SIL, does not hang around with the other Drara’s though. He came over, chirped for attention and was glad to receive food, so I suspect he has had some interaction with humans in the past. I brought over some sunflower seeds (natural – not roasted and with no salt, of course) and began hand feeding Mossy:
And soon enough, I was in love, and we were kissing -
He’s still here this morning, and I suspect Mossy is here to stay.
I did some searching online, to see if anyone lost a green parrot, and couldn’t find anything. While we are on kissing terms, he won’t let us touch him, nor will he climb on fingers or shoulders. So, I am not sure this is a pet parrot, exactly.
He seems in perfect health, able to fly from tree to tree, eats well and everything. At this point, I think he could have a great life here, getting fed, getting attention and living outside, free to fly and play. Best way to raise a parrot really – totally uncaged, IMO. So, welcome to our family, Mossy!
on Jan 11th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
wow, Mosy seem cute, never though that kind of birds live in israel, i though in Brazil or India.
can he talk?
An Egyptians last blog post..look how palestinians"struggle" against the israelis – بصوا على "جهاد" الفلسطينيين
on Jan 12th, 2009 at 1:06 am
They are indeed originally from India, but experts believe that several decades ago, enough of these birds broke loose from their cages and began to multiply here. They are a very successful invading species that can feed on any kind of fruit and nuts and feels right at home here.
They are quite common in Israel now, especially near agricultural areas. Noisy birds, and very pretty IMO. Some days you can sit in our patio and it sounds like some tropical jungle.
I’m actually surprised you don’t have them in Egypt as well. Probably just a matter of time.
on Jan 12th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
We don’t have in Egypt colored birds at all, we have only solid colors like black, white, gray, brown and yellow, may be cuz Egypt is full of deserts and rarely trees.
may be we have some like mossy but only in pet stores.
on Mar 15th, 2009 at 12:46 am
well indonesia has lots of this kind of birds