I'm sure I've already posted about Barcelona's parrots, called cotorras argentinas in Spanish. I like them; they certainly brighten up the city, as pretty much the only other birds we have are pigeons, ring-necked doves, sparrows, and seagulls. They certainly make a lot of noise, and they're always "talking" to one another. Cotorras are green with a brownish front, about eight inches to a foot long, and they live in groups. They build huge apartment-house nests out of sticks around the tops of palm trees.

The Museum of Hoaxes has a piece today on "the urban parrot phenomenon" ; seems that these critters, which in English are called monk parakeets, monk parrots, or Quaker parrots, live in several cities in the United States as well, including New York and Chicago. Check out this cool site called Brooklyn Parrots, which includes lots of photographs.