Unusual visitor to our garden

Hubby called me outside today to look at a strange bird. It was about 35 feet up in our Pear tree. Believe me, we do not live anywhere tropical, the temperatures were hovering around freezing today - so how this exotic visitor came to be in our garden is a mystery

Here s/he is



It's such a beautiful bird, I can only imagine that somebody must be very sad tonight to have lost this lovely creature. It only stayed for a few minutes then flew away over the houses, I lost sight of him after what must have been half a mile.

Wow, it is absolutely gorgeous! I agree that is is probably someone's pet.

aww thats gorgeous!
Why is the sky blue ovre there?

The blue sky caused us all the trouble Fwan - no clouds to keep the warmth in . At least when it's rainy it's warm . At least we didn't get the snow like Susan(Rosiemac) did today.

Eastern Rosella, Native to Australia.

Gorgeous little guy, not that common in the pet trade, but not unheard of.

Aw... I hope he finds his way home!

Oh thanks Arlyn - is it a Parrot or Parakeet (are they the same?)

Yes Rockcat, I hope he finds his way home too. Poor little guy.

Poor little guy!!, I hope he find his way home..he sure is beautiful though!

Oh, no! That's so sad, and such a beautiful bird!!!

Poor thing, very beautiful though. I hope he finds his way home.

What a beautiful bird to liven up the neighbourhood. I far the worse for him in this cold weather.

They are considered a parakeet.

Technically though, the term parakeet applies to all psittacines that have long, tapering tails.

All parakeets are parrots, but not all parrots are parakeets. Does that make sense?


For those of you concerned over the temps regarding this bird:
A lot of Australian, and South American parrot species can in fact do quite well in northern climes.

There are large flocks of Quaker (Monk) parakeets in Chicago, New York, and Portland, Or.
There are large flocks of Budgies (common parakeets) all over the US.

At one time, there was even a parrot native to North America, the Carolina parakeet.

If he finds his owner, or a flock, he'll be ok.

Oh thanks Arlyn - yes that makes perfect sense.

I'm relieved to hear that the temperatures might not be too much of a problem. He's unlikely to find a flock unless he likes blackbirds or other garden species. Hopefully he'll find his way home.

I was more concerned about him starving. If he was a pet, will he still know how to look for food? When I had cockatiels they would not eat things that were unfamiliar.

Amazingly, most escaped pet birds seem to have a knack for finding bird feeders
Actually I think they watch the songbirds.
Tame pet birds eventually find trustworthy humans.

When I was rescuing, I managed to return about 50% of the recaptured pet birds to their owners (the ones that could be positively identified).
Amazingly, most of those birds had been living wild for at least a year, and this was in Washington.

Originally Posted by AbbysMom

Wow, it is absolutely gorgeous! I agree that is is probably someone's pet.

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I agree Karen

Well, that explains a lot Arlyn - we have a whole host of bird feeders in the garden to try and keep the little birds healthy that stay in the UK during the winter and early breeding season.

In fact, there are two feeders in the Pear tree where the little guy was sitting. I'll keep an eye out for him to see if he comes back tomorrow.

He is gorgeous!! I lost 2 parakeets when I was a kid and I didnt think my heart would ever mend!! I hope he finds his way home, or finds a flock so hes not alone.