Friday, May 1, 2009

Peach-faced Lovebirds!?


When I first saw one of these in my neighborhood, I thought someone lost their pet bird. Only later I learned that there are feral flocks of Peach-faced Lovebirds scattered around the Valley, especially here in Mesa. Their colors are just amazing, and they're so darn cute.
Peach faced Lovebirds are actually small parrots from an arid region of South Africa, so they have adapted to our sonoran desert quite well. So how in the heck did they end up here in Arizona? Well, they didn't migrate, thats for sure. It is assumed that a few mating pairs of pet Lovebirds escaped from their homes somewhere here in the Valley, and unlike other escaped pet birds, they survived and continued breeding.

They seem to be picky about which feeders they will go to, and only stay for short periods, and at certain times of the day. I have only seen them in my neighbors backyard, and at Gilbert Water Ranch. See the Map of Lovebird sightings in the Phoenix Metro area.



5 comments:

  1. Hi,

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  2. I wish we had wild ones over here! I love lovebirds!

    :)
    candy

    ReplyDelete
  3. laurie fagen here with santan sun news wondering if we can have permission to use one of your peach-faced lovebird photos? Pls email hi res image to laurie@santansun.com with your full name and where you live so we can also give you photo credit. thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. These could potentially be an invasive species and may begin to devastate the ecosystem in Arizona and wherever else they spread. They may be cute, but if they begin to thrive they may out-compete and destroy populations of native birds.

    ReplyDelete

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