Every day when the evening sets in, thousands of parakeets begin to arrive from all over to spend the night on the leafy trees of Santander Square in the downtown area of the Amazonian city of Letícia, in Colombia. In the place’s main meeting point, the central square, tourists point their cameras to the sky to capture that which they have never seen before, while locals spin their stories as one who has lived with these birds for many a year.
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“I enjoy their chatter. They spend the day in the jungle and begin to arrive only in the late afternoon, around 5:30 or 6pm. When the last rays of the sun have departed, they sleep. At five in the morning they are up and away once again”, describes Mrs. Maria de Jesus Bardalos, 75, who sells pies and sweets in the square when there’s some celebration taking place in town. “First there were thecolondrinas that arrived here to spend the night. They would come for months and then would leave. During one of these intervals the parakeets arrived, some 10 years ago or so”, reminisces the lady who was born in Letícia and is the daughter of one of the region’s first settlers.
“It’s a bit of ecology within the city. While this square is around, the birds will come”, believes young Jenifer Henríquez Parra – Mrs. Maria de Jesus’ niece –who took a technical course in natural resources management. She further explained that no one can fell a tree from this square without permission from the Corpo-Amazonía, a Colombian government office connected to the Ministry of the Environment.
“It’s a bit of ecology within the city. While this square is around, the birds will come”, believes young Jenifer Henríquez Parra – Mrs. Maria de Jesus’ niece –who took a technical course in natural resources management. She further explained that no one can fell a tree from this square without permission from the Corpo-Amazonía, a Colombian government office connected to the Ministry of the Environment.
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Alejanda Bedoya, biologist of the National University of Colombia, reveals that the parakeets’ scientific name is Brotogeris versicoloand that the region is appropriate for these birds: “It is an open area and they find adequate trees in which to sleep and a variety of fruit, seeds and flowers”.
Alejandra is from Medelín, but has lived for almost two years in Letícia. During this time, she spent several days in the square taking a close look at the behavior of this species. “These parakeets live in very close-knit social groups. Mates are taken on for life and they always move around as a family, with their offspring, “grandchildren” and “great-grandchildren” as their families are quite large. In the morning hours and in the late afternoon they begin their chattering calls and cries as a means of territorial demarcation”. And thus, these parakeets carry on with their lives, sharing some of their wonder with those who happen to pass by the township of Letícia.
Alejandra is from Medelín, but has lived for almost two years in Letícia. During this time, she spent several days in the square taking a close look at the behavior of this species. “These parakeets live in very close-knit social groups. Mates are taken on for life and they always move around as a family, with their offspring, “grandchildren” and “great-grandchildren” as their families are quite large. In the morning hours and in the late afternoon they begin their chattering calls and cries as a means of territorial demarcation”. And thus, these parakeets carry on with their lives, sharing some of their wonder with those who happen to pass by the township of Letícia.
