He is bright green with a bright red breast and makes a loud crowing almost daily. For months, the exotic bird has been a guest almost daily at the feeding table of the Longayroux family from Bovenkarspel. But where does this colorful dude come from? “After the corona invasion, this is a nice change,” said bird lover Ton Longayroux.
The bird lives up to its nickname ‘noise parrot’ and makes a loud noise when it is a guest in the garden on Hertog Albrechtstraat. He is back again today. “He comes for lunch almost every day. Fortunately, this tropical guest has withstood the storms. Because we did wonder: ‘parrot are you still alive, eeja, eeja’.”
“We often see him in the morning and afternoon at the feeder in the garden. He has been coming here for months. He is collared, bright green with a brown underside and red breast. He must have escaped,” says wife Carin.
Where does he come from?
The couple has already engaged all authorities. “He has been coming here since mid-August, but little has happened yet. Now it seems that the owner is known via the animal ambulance,” says Carin Longayroux.
Inquiries at Dierenambulance West-Friesland learn that the owner is indeed in the picture and would live nearby. But frantic efforts to capture the parrot failed. “The owner of the parrot is known via via, but he just can’t get hold of it. We have tried it ourselves before, but then it is too high in the tree,” says Arie Slot.
Parrot or parakeet?
What kind of exotic bird the couple is dealing with remained unclear for a long time. Arie Slot: “We don’t know what kind of parrot it is. He is too difficult to photograph for that. He can make quite a noise. It is not a ring-necked parakeet anyway, he is much too big for that.”
After some research, the Longayroux family now concludes that it must be an Australian King Parakeet, which belongs to the parrot family. “A real revelation, because when you think of a parakeet you think of a small bird as you know it as a pet in cages. The difference between parrots and parakeets is in the tail. Parakeets have a long tail,” adds Ton.
The other Dutch garden birds keep an appropriate distance from their beautifully colored foreign counterpart. In any case, the escaped bird is well spoiled. “I also bought extra food and shelled peanuts, which the bird takes in its paw one by one, before opening them and eating them. It’s still a nice spectacle. This ‘asylum seeker’ can stay with me,” concludes Ton.