NOT A PRETTY POLLY

Does anyone have a recipe for parrot pie?

OK they are parakeets, or to be precise, Monk Parakeets, also known as the Quaker Parrots, the smaller more belligerent cousins of the pirates’ colourful companions, but the noise they can make belies their stature. 

 

Flocks of the little green critters are to be found all over Barcelona, usually they sit in high palm trees, squawking away at each other, at people, at other birds or just for the sake of squawking. The important thing is that they are constantly squawking, and that parakeet squawking is loud but not a pleasant noise.

Other birds have learnt the hard way to leave the Parakeets alone.

They may look like clowns, but they fight like mobsters. 

Last year there was a turf war between the Parakeets and the Magpies in lower westside Barcelona, it was a noisy and bloody affair. Magpies are a very rare sight in these parts nowadays! 

Occasionally they slum it and come down to ground level to scavenge crumbs from tourists amongst the pigeons. 

They also put on impressive  aerial displays, forming little V-shaped squadrons that zoom down the streets just above head height, squawking as they go.

They are not, as might be generally supposed, blow-ins from across the Mediterranean, they are probably originated from escaped pet birds and have gone feral and established a sustainable population. 

Apparently they make good pets, but why anyone would want to share a house with one of the noisy little blighters beats me.