Keep an Eye Out for Green-Winged Redheads

Sue and James had come to visit for our day-after Thanksgiving celebration of thanks. The focus was on good friends, and beautiful surroundings, and all of us still hanging in there. Saturday morning was bright and windy and we decided to drive down to the beach at Bullito for a walk.

There were white wisps of cloud in a very blue sky, and the surf was big and wild. Here and there guys sat on the hoods of parked vehicles looking out to sea with that hypnotized gaze that they get, almost drooling. The wind rushed through the trees and scattered bits of leaves through the air like confetti.

“Interesting red parrot,” said James from the back seat.

“What exactly did YOU have with coffee this morning?” we said, along with other expressions of skepticism, sarcasm, and silliness.

“Well, maybe it was my imagination,” said James, “but I’m pretty sure I saw a brightred parrot up in the tree back there.”

We decided to turn the car around and check it out, and I am so glad we did.

Because there he was, comfortably perched on the pinnacle branches of a tall eucalyptustree, and as you can see, I made sure I did not leave the scene withoutphotographic evidence.

I googled him later, of course. This is a green-winged macaw, and he is WAY out of his native habitat...which is mostly South America, where he and his relatives live in tropical jungles, savannas, and mangroves. They can fly at speeds up to 35 miles an hour; who'd have imagined?

Intelligent and feisty, macaws like this are prized as pets and can cost about $1500 in the store. They are not for the "casual owner", says one website; they require attention and interaction. Perhaps someone is searching for this one right now.

He might make it out here – there are fruits, and nuts, and potential shelter. But I don’t know; it’s far from tropical, and there are some pretty aggressive predators. I read that the macaw’s average life span is 60 years, but they have been known to live well past 80, and I hope this one gets to do that.

It's hard to explain how much tenderness he engendered in the course of our fleeting encounter –– his comical incongruity, his flashy colors and outrageous beauty, the absurdity and wonder of him.

He was gone two hours later when we went by again.

I conclude with James’ sage advice, applicable for a lifetime:

“Keep an eye out for green-winged red- heads, wherever you go.”