I'm so sorry cheryl. I don't have an answer for bad neighbors. They could care less and only think of themselves.

Interesting problem. I raised exotic parrots and birds for years, and they were mostly on my backporch where they made plenty of ruckus, but they never bothered my yard birds, which I had in plenty. I'm wondering why these birds scare the cardinals so badly. Do they let them loose in the yard, like Nicki's neighbor? If so, that's a terrible danger for the pet birds, in addition to whatever they seem to be doing to the yard birds.

As a rule, parrots and other exotic birds are not a threat to native birds. But I'm sorry these folks are causing you a problem with theirs.

Marcia

The birds are mean and never come out of thier cages.
All they know how to do is screeh - one is a macaw
and the other is a large green parrot. They do not talk.
They wheel them out to the center of their back yard
and they sit in the sun till one of the neighbors
yells at the husband to take them back inside.
I live in the city.
Our houses are 10 feet from each other,
our back yards are only 25' deep.

And -- YES -- All it takes is one loud screech from them and all the birds and butterflies take off imediately!!!
Some return but not when they are nesting.

The morning doves and the big black birds
are the only ones that they don't scare off.
We used to have a large colony yellow finches before they moved in.

Last year their dead bird total was 11.
So far from the neighbors and me, it's 12.

..............cheryl

I have to say, this is a first for me. Not doubting you, honestly, but as I say, I raised very large parrots and conures, extremely noisy birds, and never had a single lost native bird to show for it. Plus, I know professionals who raise parrots in large outdoor aviaries where the noise is deafening, and the cardinals and other birds are all over the place, hoping to get spilled seed, etc. So I have to think it is something about these particular birds that is causing the problem, and not parrots and macaws in general.

Sorry they are such a nuisance for you.

Marcia

What a sad story! It makes me wonder if the parrots have learned to mimic the call of a hawk or some other bird of prey in your area? That would, I think, be the only thing that would scare the smaller birds out of their wits.

But it still would not take the yard birds very long to figure it out. They are quick to see what the story is, and quick to adapt. They get used to exotic birds very easily. Plus, they don't scatter when a hawk calls, generally. Most of the time they scatter when they see one gliding overhead, or see the shadow.

Birds are much more frightened of movement than they are of noise. I can sit in my yard with the radio blaring and me making plenty of noise and my birds are all over the feeders. But let me make a sudden move, and they zip up to the trees to watch from a safe distance.

I was talking to Nicki today, too, and her neighbor has two of the nosiest macaws you ever saw, which are LOOSE in the trees in her neighbor's backyard. (Dumbest thing I ever heard of, letting a $2500 bird wander around loose!) Anyway, Nicki's yard is filled with native birds who don't even acknowledge that the macaws are out there. They have adapted and know exactly where the noise is coming from.

I can't imagine why these birds are so easily frightened by some parrots screeching. It's a mystery!

Marcia

I talked to quite a few people last Sat
at the Green Expo we had here.
They hear about this all the time.
Especially with the quaker birds.
People turn them loose//excape and they set up
housekeeping in a tree
and the native birds move out.
Even our local bird rescue said they
don't take in exotics because they disturb
the reproductive/nesting habits of the seabirds.

I sure didn't mean to make waves.
I was just saying what's happening in my neighborhood.
........cheryl

Oh, Cheryl, you are not making waves with me. I'm just flabbergasted at the idea, is all. I'm trying to understand it. However, exotic birds moving into areas and disturbing the nesting habitats is very different from birds getting killed because of screeching parrots. Two completely different concepts. Exotic ANYTHING moving into the environment causes terrible problems, that's for sure. Quaker parrots have totally taken over areas in south Florida.

The part I'm trying to understand is why your neighbor's birds screeching disturbs other birds. That is not a normal thing, and I have lots of experience of my own, plus bird breeders that says it is an unusual case. The noise alone should not cause any disturbances (except to humans) most of the time, so I'm very curious about why it would do so in your neighborhood. I am not saying it isn't happening there at all. I'm just looking for an answer as to why, because breeding exotic birds who are CAGED (and not loose in the environment) is not the kind of thing that impacts native birds in normal circumstances. Native birds actually get very fat and happy when they can flit in and out of the larger cages, stealing food.

I just want to figure out why or how your experience could be happening. Like whether the macaws are doing something different that makes them seem more threatening. It normally doesn't take wild birds long to realize that the CAGED parrots are not a problem, and then they ignore them.
So you can see why this is a puzzle to me.

Please don't be offended that I'm asking questions. I only want to understand the mechanics of what is going on in your scenario.

Marcia