ML52425511

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

Red-masked Parakeet -- extensive red face mask; some red coming in on shoulder.

Observation details

"Lifer", but an introduced exotic so I don't think it "counts" yet. Heard squawking while we were driving west on N. Harbor Dr., which alerted me to the fact that the small flock was flying over our vehicle, headed to the north side of the road. Did not get a good look while they were flying, but we immediately pulled over into a parking lot just west of a pedestrian bridge near Nimitz Blvd., where the parakeets had landed in the trees. **Note: I had a difficult time at first determining the correct species (I had thought that Mitred Parakeet was also a possibility, but there don't seem to be any of those in San Diego?), since with my inexperience with San Diego exotics I was concentrating upon the extent of red coloring on the face and shoulders. I was initially concerned about the maroon tint to the forehead of the red face masks on these birds, plus a lack of red on thighs. But while delving into ID points and many online photos, I discovered that younger Red-masked Parakeets can also have a maroon tint around the bill, splotchy heads, and a total lack of red on the thighs, with the red coloring coming in stronger, cleaner and more extensively as the birds get older - full color being attained around 16 months. And *much* later, when I gleaned through a much more complete reference guide, I realized that the most important ID feature was actually the leg color. These birds clearly have the gray legs of Red-masked Parakeet. A Mitred would have pink legs. In addition, a bit of red color is also visible at the "shoulder" of the wing in some of my photos, which is a trait of Red-masked.

Technical information

Dimensions

640 pixels x 500 pixels

Original file size

454.26 KB