quesojust blogged

The story of the Rosy-faced Lovebird in Arizona is one of nature’s most charming accidents, a tale of how a small bird from the dry woodlands of Southwestern Africa found a second home in the heart of the Sonoran Desert. Many are surprised to see these bright, tropical parrots flitting between saguaros, but these little survivors took one look at our desert heat and felt right at home. The journey began in the mid-1980s when a few pet birds escaped or were released in the Phoenix area. Instead of perishing, they discovered that the Arizona climate was almost identical to their native African habitat.

These birds are incredibly clever, thriving by taking over old woodpecker holes in saguaro cacti, which provide perfect insulation against both the blistering summer heat and the chilly winter nights. They have adapted their diet to include cactus fruits, seeds, and the bounty of local bird feeders, allowing their populations to grow steadily over the decades. True to their name, they are social butterflies that travel in chatterbox colonies, filling the Arizona air with high-pitched chirps and flashes of emerald and peach.