7.12.18
It is
impossible to visit the charming Catalan capital of Barcelona and not manage to
see or hear parakeets. Their excitable, raucous squawks are audible just about
anywhere in the city, even on its busiest streets, and most mornings you will
hear them even from your hotel bedroom, as they noisily leave roost sites and
head out for the day.
While
self-sustaining populations of various parakeet species can be found in the
urban sprawls of many European cities, no more pronounced are these exotic
settlers than on the streets of Barcelona, where a remarkable seven species can
be found, each established to a varying degree thanks to an agreeable
year-round climate and a lack of predators and competition.
Of these,
it is Monk
Parakeet that is the commonest. They are so prominent that, in
some parts, they have themselves become tourist attractions within tourist
attractions for the millions of sightseers visiting the city each year. Noisy
flocks can be encountered at just about all city's main sights, including the
Sagrada Familia, Park Güell and Arc de Triomf. At Güell in particular, their
huge, communal nests, built of sticks, are apparent on almost every palm tree
surrounding Gaudí’s famous sculptural buildings. Meanwhile, adjacent to the Arc
de Triomf is Parc de la Ciutadella, where literally hundreds of them can be
found, flying around or feeding unconcernedly on the grass, often just
centimetres from groups of gawping, smartphone-armed tourists, firing off
innumerable selfies with the overly friendly Psittacines.
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