f13.net

So, I'm going to ask a specific question for an insane idea, but I guess maybe this can be a general thread for discussion of birds?  I don't think we have one that I could find.

Anyways, in my never ending quest to waste my money on random weird shit (I'm looking into building my own aluminum can smelter also, because why the fuck not), I've considered seeing if I can add some color to my neighborhood.  I live in a clump of very nice houses, with big lawns, lots of tree's, all setup in a ring around a really nice little outdoor park with tons of flowers/trees/bushes.  Very tropical looking, but no colorful birds.  This area seems like it might be a nice area to get some birds to hang out.  At the local pet stores, they have ton of various colorful birds for fairly cheep (and if I buy in bulk I'm sure that can be made cheeper).

My question to anybody here (and any lurkers that want to jump out of the wood works):  Is it possible to get a small colony of parrots (or other birds) to setup locally, or will they just all fly off/die?  I understand this totally depends on the birds in question, but I've seen in San Francisco there is an established parrot colony that stays all year round on Telegraph hill, which sort of inspired me.  A lot of the birds for sale seem to be Love Birds, which I also read about adapting once escaped.  My idea was to buy a shit ton of them, leave obvious food out around the cages and in the yard, then open up the cages, in the hope they start hanging out in the local neighborhood (and we live in an isolated and guarded cul de sac, so wouldn't have to worry to much about outside poachers).  Give me something else to look at when I'm having a beer on my porch.

These are some of the birds in question I see for sale not far from my house:



(https://i.imgur.com/k8kZYu3.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/LUdqs8y.jpg)

These first two are kinds of love birds I'm pretty sure.

(https://i.imgur.com/fzeqOL6.jpg)

Not sure what these others are.

(https://i.imgur.com/TGAmffH.jpg)

Does anybody have any idea what these red birds are?  Look like some kind of Red Finch...

(https://i.imgur.com/th38zZu.jpg)

And just for fun....they apparently had a baby Emu/Ostrich?  I felt bad for this thing, as it had no room and was violently pecking at that empty feed tray the entire time I saw it (Laos.... does not treat its animals well).  But like, I guess I could get a pet ostrich for the yard (yes, I know it will probably murder me as soon as it gets large enough to)?

Screwing with an ecosystem never produces a positive outcome.  While I appreciate that your heart is in the right place, those birds need to be living in the region where they were captured.  That's what they were genetically built for.

My 2 cents.

This is the correct opinion. Rather than import a bunch of invasive species, why not just set up bird feeders in the garden and watch the local birds come and enjoy? That way you'll get birds that actually know how to survive outside of a cage and won't steal jobs from hardworking American(Polish/Indonesian/where ever the fuck you are) birds. Caged birds released into the wild generally do not do well.  At best you'll be helping out the local feline population.

Fair enough guys, and trust me that's a major concern (one reason I started this thread).  When I first had the idea after seeing all the birds stacked on top of each other in shitty conditions outdoors, I had sort of assumed they were actually local birds that had been nabbed.  Only after looking into it further did I realize they had a bunch of imported stuff (not sure how the hell the logistics of importing African parrots into Laos works.....).  Upon further research though, I saw a lot of stuff about how escaped Love Birds had adapted well in North America, and thought maybe it was still viable.

And yes, at the very least, I'm planning on setting up all sorts of feeders to look at the locals.  Maybe try and figure out appropriate nesting boxes.  There are absolutly some wild local birds they just grabbed and put into cages there (I know because I've seen them outside, and you can tell the poor suckers have no idea what is going on and spend every moment bouncing off the walls of the cage).  They just aren't colorful and I'm a shallow person.   :awesome_for_real:

I'll do some more research into what birds are more local.  Problem is nothing is labeled, and nobody speaks any English.  Need to bring a local with me next time.  Anybody have any idea what those little red birds are?  Very pretty, but my google-fu is failing to find me an obvious match.

It looks like a Red Avadavat.

To continue to beat a dead parrot, I would like to urge anyone who is not familiar with why we have starlings in North America to read up on this Eugene Schieffelin motherfucker. (http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/01/opinion/100-years-of-the-starling.html)

I think your red birds might be red avadavats (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_avadavat), which are native to India.

(fakeedit: Iain beat me to it)

Lol, 'Straberry Finch'.  Was searching for 'Red Finch' without success.  Those are actually native across all of SE Asia (including Laos), so of all the birds so far, those would probably be the best bet (though weather they are a type of bird that hangs around or just migrates vast distances is another question).  Thanks a ton though guys!  They are really lovely little birds.

Interesting article about the starlings.  Never actually seen one before.

We definitely have them in the Bay Area, so you've probably at least seen them from a distance.  I see flocks of them hanging out in the trees in my neighborhood, and at larger parks I've seen "murmurations (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOGCSBh3kmM)" (which is when they form giant swarms that resemble the smoke monster from Lost).

Huh, possibly.  Just seems like a bird like that would really stand out if I saw it.  The area I grew up in the Sacramento valley is right in the main lane for all birds migrating north and south between canada and Mexico every year, so I'm use to massive flocks of birds descending on fields.  I guess maybe all our local ones just scared away or ate the starlings (or more likely, I'm just incredibly un-observant).

I think you should purchase and release the ostrich, just to give it some room. Colorful language will ensue from the neighbors I'm sure.

The odd thing is that farming ostriches or emus at least makes some kind of sense, and people actually do it (though it is by all accounts quite difficult, and not for the faint of heart/undercapitalized). Exotic birds otherwise, not such a good idea.