Manhattan Beach Attacks Parakeet Problem : Polly May Be Pretty but She Isn’t Popular

Animal control director Howard Fishman recently got an unusual assignment: to evict a noisy flock of birds from this peaceful beach town.

It seems a brood of black-hooded parakeets--members of the parrot family--has settled in the palms and eucalyptus trees on 19th Street near Oak and Elm avenues. The birds, also known as nanday conures, are waking up their neighbors at daybreak with a piercing screech, which Fishman laughingly calls a “bark.”

Residents seeking relief complained to Councilman Gil Archuletta, an Elm Avenue neighbor. “I had 10 or 15 calls,” Archuletta said. “They were concerned that the parrots were disturbing their peace and quiet, especially in the early morning. They wanted to know what could be done.”

The councilman asked the city staff to look into the matter, and the task fell to Fishman who, besides serving as animal control director, supervises parking enforcement and the city’s Dial-a-Ride bus program.

Ruffled Feathers

After three weeks of research, Fishman prepared a report advising residents how to scare the birds from their homes and how to trap them. His recommendations, to be published in January’s city newsletter and sent to all residents, have ruffled a few feathers among bird-fanciers.

To frighten the parrots away, Fishman recommends that residents buy a rubber snake at a toy store and leave it on the porch or roof where the birds can see it. “It’ll act like a scarecrow,” Fishman said. “They’ll think it’s alive and relocate.”

For those preferring a more aggressive approach, Fishman suggests luring the birds to a backyard feeder and then springing a trap.

“Set up the feeder with birdseed, apple slices and carrots,” Fishman said, “and then stake it out. Birds are creatures of habit. Once you win their confidence, set up a net above the feeder. After a couple of weeks, try to trap them.”

He Likes Birds

Lest his name suddenly appear on an Audubon Society hit list, Fishman quickly points out that he is a bird-fancier, too.

“I like birds,” he said. “I have two finches at home. But I can sympathize with the people who were affected.

“We’re not trying to put a stop to the birds. They’re part of the life style here. We just want them to relocate. My job is to find ways to have the parrots go peacefully.”

Nanday conures, and about 10 other parrot species, make their home in beach cities from Malibu to San Pedro, said Kimball Garrett, ornithology collection manager at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

The birds, which Garrett says number “in the hundreds,” favor the Southern California coastal area where the exotic plants resemble those of their native South America.

How Many Nandays?

No one knows precisely how many nanday conures live in the region because ornithologists have not tracked the population, says Jeff Froke, a National Audubon Society biologist. But ask any bird lover or city employee--they’ll tell you how many nandays inhabit Manhattan Beach:

David Ludwig, contract coordinator of public services, says there are 15 to 20.

Animal control director Fishman says “half a dozen to a dozen.”

Biologist Froke cautiously estimates “far fewer than 40.”

Maurice Jones, an Elm Avenue resident, says he has seen two.

Mike Atkinson, also of Manhattan Beach and a member of the South Bay Bird Club, says he believes there are six. But it may seem like more, he said, “because they are so loud.”

Atkinson may be the most authoritative voice in the controversy. He claims a five-year acquaintanceship with the hunted nandays.

He Saw the Originals

“The original pair of birds settled in a palm tree near my house,” he said. “They hollowed out a nest and raised four young.”

Atkinson calls the nanday “a lovely bird” and describes with affection its green plumage, black head and long, pointy tail. But, he adds, when the nanday opens its beak, it emits a “loud, raucous, constant, piercing scream.”

“If I put a nanday in my small beach cottage, one of us would be dead in three hours.”

Atkinson says he has trapped nandays “several times” using the Fishman method and gave them away. “I put seed, vegetables and fruit on top of the aviary for three or four days. Then I put a trap over there, spring it and it falls down on them.”

But other would-be bird-catchers, employing a variety of techniques, have not had such success.

Know They’re Hunted

“We’ve tried to catch them two or three times with nets,” said Don Hand, president of the South Bay Bird Club. “They know when you’re coming after them.”

Lola McAulay, the club’s secretary, said she believes “the only way to catch a nanday is to wet him down so he can’t fly. But I doubt very much if anyone can catch him.”

The supervisor of the Santa Monica Animal Shelter agrees. “There’s no way to catch them,” said John Sanchez. “If you shoot them with a tranquilizer gun, the fall will kill them.”

Despite Atkinson’s success in nabbing the nanday, he does not recommend the technique to his neighbors. Only experienced bird-handlers should try to catch them, he said.

“Anyone trying to capture a parrot will get bitten,” warned biologist Froke. The birds may carry “parrot fever,” or psittacosis, he said, “but I don’t think the virus is in the area.”

Forget Snake Trick

Froke called the Manhattan Beach guidelines “a knee-jerk reaction.” In advising residents how to trap the birds, he said, “the city is making a big mistake.”

Froke has his doubts, too, about Fishman’s snake trick.

“That technique does work with birds,” he said, “but not all species. The parrots may not be fooled by it. They learn that a snake on the roof is not a threat.”

Garrett, of the county museum, is also skeptical: “I have a hard time believing that would work. Birds are not so hopelessly dumb.”

The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that the nanday is an obnoxious bird. And that may partly explain why it is roaming the bay cities.

The nanday “is probably the first kind of bird people will buy,” said bird club president Hand. “It’s big and it’s a cheaper bird. But after a month, they can’t stand it and may let it go.”

Doesn’t Cost Much

A nanday costs between $25 and $80, according to club members. More prized varieties of parrots can cost several hundred dollars.

“People are more apt to let a nanday go,” said Froke. “It’s a nuisance bird and their noise is unceasing.”

But several other theories on the origin of the wild parrots are flitting through the bird community.

“A large volume of trade in parrots is carried out illegally,” Garrett said. “Lots of illegal shipments are coming into the harbor or through the border towns, and I suspect a great number of them escape.”

Froke contends that several dozen birds were set free during a major brush fire in Bel-Air in 1961.

Did Birds Escape?

Other theories suggest that the birds were released when a pet shop caught fire and when a baggage handler dropped a crate at the airport.

Once in the wild, Froke said, the birds “find each other or will mix with other species.”

Although the nanday is found throughout the Westside and South Bay, the bird seems to have caused the most trouble in Manhattan Beach. A check of animal control offices from Santa Monica to Palos Verdes revealed a smattering of complaints but no major concern.

Councilman Archuletta, who brought the nanday to the city’s attention, wants the problem to be considered with proper perspective.

“All of a sudden, I’ve become the ‘parrot person,’ ” he said. “We have other problems here.”