BARCELONA – A PARADISE FOR BIRDS
January 24th, 2007Have you ever noticed the city´s unusual green citizens?!
Who could imagine seeing PARROTS flying around in the middle of a large bustling city like Barcelona? I’ve always associated tropical, intelligent birds like parrots with deep, green Amazonian jungles, until I happened to walk past a couple of happy, chirpy, bright green, feathery creatures on my way down the Ramblas! It’s true! There they are, amongst the comparatively dull looking grey pigeons, chirping away, as though it is their most normal habitat! They seem more than happy, brightening up the pavements and co-existing with the old ladies in the parks who feed them bread and corn on sunny afternoons. The only hardship that they have in their relaxed birdlife here in the city, is when they have to fight off cheeky pigeons, in order to mark their territory close to the park bench.
No wonder that they seem so happy, now they are free! Apparently a few of these feathery beasts were once set free in the city and then the population soared, to the extent that you can now spot them and hear their loud songs on a stroll in the city centre! All the parent parrots will no doubt be relating to their cosmopolitan, capable offspring, the ancient legend about when one lucky day, their emancipated ancestors in the 1970´s managed to escape the small cages high on the balconies of their human owners and create a whole new life – as FREE city birds! Perhaps soon the birds will create a bright green carpet across Plaza Catalunya, replacing the current swarm of grey pigeons!
But for now they continue to live enjoying the city parks and palm trees, feeding on the crumbs offered to them, and feeling the warm Mediterranean breeze under their green wings.
If you want to read more about the parrots in Barcelona, then take a look at this other blog:
http://www.perfecttravelblog.com/2006/06/
/ Elin
This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 24th, 2007 at 11:32 am and is filed under General Barcelona, Other. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
January 26th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
I saw one of these in the Parc Guell! =D
We heard a really funky bird noise coming from a palm tree (near the mozaic benches) and had to stare at the top of the tree for a long while before we actually spotted the little green guy.
I have a picture of one, but their camouflage works rather well, so he’s not very visible. =(
January 29th, 2007 at 8:59 am
That´s true! you also need to be very quick to be able to snap them!
/Elin
January 29th, 2007 at 9:39 am
What a great story! It’s much nicer to see birds like this living free rather than in cages. Can you imagine what a fantasic view they must have of the city from up there!?! Much better even than the view from Montjuic! I wonder if any other animals will follow? Perhaps we’ll soon see monkeys swinging from the lampposts on las ramblas?