It sounds like a scene out of Hitchcock’s The Birds, and it has been happening for the past few months in a small town in Argentina almost on the Atlantic coast south of Buenos Aires, Hilario Ascasubi. Its five thousand or so residents are grappling with a veritable invasion of parrots, set in motion by massive deforestation of the surrounding hillsides. The disappearance of trees has prompted thousands of green-, yellow- and red-coloured birds—to be precise, specimens of Cyanoliseus patagonus, called the burrowing parakeet in Italian—to flock to Hilario Ascasubi, where the birds roost on every structure, exasperating residents with their incessant screeching and the droppings they litter everywhere, even damaging power lines and causing rolling blackouts. The same thing is happening in the nearby village of Pedro Luro, some 20 kilometres away.
They flee in search of shelter and food
Tree cutting did not begin yesterday, but the reduction in habitat for these parrots, biologists explain, has driven them closer and closer to urban areas in the surrounding area in search of food, shelter and water. And, since they are not threatened by any natural predators, they do not seem intent on leaving.
The forest cover in the area has been brutally reduced over time, leaving room for agricultural crops. And so literally thousands of birds go to Ascasubi for refuge during the autumn and winter (i.e., our spring and summer months) whilst in the summer (i.e., now) they migrate en masse to the cliffs of Patagonia for the breeding season.
There are 10 parrots for every resident human
It is the only part of the year when local people can be quiet. Videos posted on social media leave no room for doubt: biologists estimate there are 10 parrots for every resident human, and images show hundreds of birds perched on power lines, pylons, and rooftops of every structure. They make a hell of a noise, of course they litter a lot, and in many cases they damage power cable protections even if only by their weight, paving the way for repeated power outages. Attempts to drive away parrots with noises and laser lights have proved ineffective, as have those as more traditional methods, such as banging on supports or making big noises with, for example, accelerating motors.
The parrot invasion is costing local people and businesses so much in terms of damage to electrical facilities, destruction of crops, power outages, and possibly even one death, such as an elderly woman who died of psittacosis, a bacterial infection transmitted by birds. Local administrators have called for scientific studies and solutions from the government. Too bad President Javier Milei abolished the “useless” Ministry of Environment, and its agencies, with his chainsaw.
