This black-hooded parakeet recently discovered a bounty in Grant Loucks’ backyard in the Marquez neighborhood, joined by his fellow ‘screechers,’ who enjoy sunflower seeds above all other foods, although they also feast on fruits, berries and nuts. Several bands of these colorful green birds with the distinctive black head and yellow eye-ring have made their home in the residential areas from Brentwood to Pacific Palisades for several decades. Loucks’ first attempt to photograph a feasting wild parrot failed when the ‘scout’ bird flew away. ‘I then prepped the area for his return,’ he explained in an e-mail. ‘The next morning around 7 a.m., I heard the familiar screeching sound of the parrots. I dressed in black and took up a position in a lounge chair. Armed with my trusty Nikon D 40 with a 200-mm lens, I started the wait. Soon the parrots landed high in our 40-ft. eucalyptus tree. At first, there were four or five of them, joined by more, for a total of 10 parrots. They were screeching (talking) to each other, more than likely making plans to attack the sunflowers. They all left the tree and circled Marquez Canyon and then returned to the tree. They did this three times. Each time they came down a little lower in the tree. This all took place over a period of 45 minutes. Next, one parrot landed on the rail of our deck. He gave the OK screech and they all made a move on the flowers. The parrots did a good job on the sunflowers and never returned.’
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