Wild Parrots of Brisbane

(Chronicle photo)

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill have expanded their reach to Brisbane (the small town just south of San Francisco, not the city in Australia). The parrots have avoided the hazards of red-tailed hawks and cold weather mentioned in the 2003 documentary.

San Francisco's famed flock of cherry-headed conures, immortalized in an award-winning movie and book, has become so populous that about 100 or so birds have fled San Francisco for the verdant slopes of San Bruno Mountain, where they're feasting on juniper and hawthorn berries and delighting the locals with their acrobatics.

It took the second flock eight years to find a home ten miles south of Telegraph Hill. If they continue to migrate at that rate, we may see them in the San Mateo hills in twelve years. (They're unlikely to cross the freeway and nest in Foster City.)

Because the parrots are attractive and intelligent, they're not now regarded as a nuisance. If their numbers continue to grow, however, one never knows. © 2012 Stephen Yuen