The SoCal Parrot Sanctuary and Garden in Jamul is home to dozens of wild parrots, many of which are healing from gunshot wounds, like this one, shot while eating figs in an El Cajon backyard. Image by Peggy Peattie
All 3 rehabilitating, but officials warn unauthorized shootings could lead to jail time.
Durham said there is no exact count but there are likely more than 1,000 wild parrots, mostly red-crowned and lilac-crowned species, that have called San Diego County home since the 1950s. There is a large group of nearly 500 that travels in and out of downtown El Cajon. Another large flock frequents Ocean Beach and Point Loma.
The fragile birds subsist on more than 100 different kinds of flowering and fruiting ornamental, non-native species of plants and scrub. They can live up to 40 to 50 years in the wild, Durham said. They have natural predators in owls and hawks and other raptors.
Durham says the Amazon parrots in San Diego County originate from an endangered species from Mexico. She said there are 13 confirmed species of parrots in Southern California.
“We may be holding the future of these parrots in Southern California,” Durham said. “They have learned to adapt to live alongside humans in this environment. They live in high-density human populations because people grow all the food these birds eat.”
She said she hopes that parents will teach their children the dangers of pellet guns — that they should be used when a parent or other responsible adult is around and for target shooting only. She said that adults also need to understand the harm that comes from introducing lead from bullets into the environment.
SoCal Parrot, a nonprofit sanctuary, is a local organization dedicated to educating the public and helping these wild, naturalized birds survive and thrive, through rescue, rehabilitation and when possible, re-release into the wild.
(The Department of Animal Services can be reached at (619) 767-2675; Crimestoppers’ phone number is (888) 580-8477 and their website is sdcrimestoppers.org)