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Old 09-07-2012, 08:01 AM
 
3,787 posts, read 6,964,319 times
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If it is I've never seen one this big. It came into our yard, then it was gone.

I can't figure out how to make the picture bigger without making it too big. Ugh....
Attached Thumbnails
parakeet?-img_0375bird.png  
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Old 09-07-2012, 08:19 AM
 
Location: Central Texas
20,958 posts, read 45,185,524 times
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It's likely a Monk parakeet. Someone let some loose years ago and there's now several flocks of them around Austin.
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Old 09-07-2012, 11:21 AM
 
3,787 posts, read 6,964,319 times
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Thank you. Here is a bit more information in case anyone is interested. It was the surprise siting.

Mr. Smarty Pants - The Austin Chronicle

I kinda like that "Mr. Smarty Pants"...

PLUS! There is a wayback machine!! How cool is that?
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Old 09-07-2012, 11:21 AM
 
4,710 posts, read 7,062,567 times
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It could be a monk parakeet, but they seem to have more white/gray faces rather than the picture would indicate. A larger parrot that is possible is the yellow headed parrot. I can't see from the picture, however, if there is any red. These have a smallish red patch on the "shoulder" of the wing and also a little red lower on the leading edge of the wing. Since parrots and parakeets in many are found in Mexico, it is not too surprising to have vagrants wandering up here. But there are also, as earlier mentioned, flocks of freed parrots of many varieties around the US, most often California, Texas and Florida.
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Old 09-07-2012, 11:33 AM
 
Location: Where I live.
9,191 posts, read 21,785,919 times
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I swiped the picture, and enlarged it to get a better look. The coloration is amazingly like a standard pet parakeet (budgerigar/budgie) with the black on the sides of the wings......but it's waaay too big.

No idea whether it's a yellow-headed parrot or a Monk......
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Old 09-07-2012, 11:38 AM
 
4,710 posts, read 7,062,567 times
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Monk parakeets have blue wing tips, while the yellow headed parrot has black wing tips and edges. I don't have a way to get a bigger/better picture, but I am thinking yellow headed.
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Old 09-07-2012, 11:53 AM
 
Location: Austin, TX
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Yellow-headed parrot-keet!!

Certainly an interesting sighting. The tail is, I think, much too long to be a yellow-headed parrot. A hybrid of some sort?
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Old 09-07-2012, 12:03 PM
 
4,710 posts, read 7,062,567 times
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Holy Smokes! I didn't even notice that long tail (I guess I thought it was part of the tree.) You are right that no self respecting yellow headed parrot would show up with that tail. Well, my books show the Rose-ringed parakeet with that length of tail, but I think that you are right that we will never know what this was. It could be a true exotic vagrant from Central America, but it could also be a hybrid of all those released birds that are around. Who knows? But an interesting sighting!
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Old 09-07-2012, 06:56 PM
 
Location: Round Rock, TX
1,317 posts, read 4,042,227 times
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It looks like a parakeet to me. Some of them can get big - if they are English Budgies. Those types are a little bigger than the regular types.

I've raised them since I was a little girl, so it looks like one to me!
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Old 09-08-2012, 12:43 PM
 
Location: Hutto, Tx
9,249 posts, read 26,589,946 times
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Beautiful! I'm jealous!
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