A Bird Out of Place?
Did you know there’s a huge flock of wild parrots in San Francisco? It’s common knowledge among the city’s denizens, but I learned about them for the first time this week when I spent an evening at the bayside Embarcadero Plaza. I was there on an invitation to perform for “SF Wednesdays,” a city initiative to help perk up the downtown after the Covid-19 slump.
The invitation stemmed from my other big passion outside of journalism: Dance. I’m a longtime student of Odissi — a classical Indian dance form. So there I was on a sunny, windy afternoon, all brightly costumed, dancing with my troupe for passersby, enjoying the moment, but also feeling a tiny bit like a gaudy bird out of place.
That was when we spotted the jewel-green parrots flying overhead. A whole flock of them, twittering loudly at each other. Tropical birds, flying free in a dense North American city? Well, yes! Apparently there are more than 300 of them in the California Bay Area, mostly concentrated in San Francisco. The flock, I learned from a performance attendee, is made up of escapees and individuals released by pet owners who no longer wanted to care for them once they figured out that these birds, who can be raucous and demanding, can live for decades.
Somehow, these outcasts had found each other and made a home of sorts in an alien land. I couldn’t but marvel at their resilience.
Many may view these parrots — a hybrid subspecies call cherry-headed conures — a problematic “invasive species.” And yes, nonnative species can indeed be troublesome. But in that moment when I spotted them against the blue sky, I felt only pure delight at the serendipity of it all. Because, there I was, an immigrant, performing what the organizers had described as an “exotic” dance, with parrots who reminded me of my birth country flying overhead. At the same time, I’m also an American. And so, in some ways, are these parrots.
I’m not quite sure what it all means other than — life sure is beautiful, and complicated, and there are no easy answers to some things.
Maureen Nandini Mitra
Editor, Earth Island Journal
Photo by: Ingrid Taylar
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