Parakeet Of Putah Creek

This morning when we were out in the yard with the cats we heard a strident ‘keeew’ that I thought was an oriole and Pica thought was a northern flicker. A few minutes later, I spotted the bird: it was a beautiful psittacid, with a long tail and a reddish bill. Pica saw the collar on him, and in Sibley we identified him as a Rose-ringed Parakeet. He flew off over the field towards the creek.

On the way home this afternoon, riding through the Arboretum, a couple of kilometers off from here, I heard a similar call, and had the briefest glimpse of a yellowish bird in flight. Maybe it was our parakeet.