Parrots and Palms

I have admired this parking lot filled with California & Mexican Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera and W robust, respectively) for a number of years.   Most of the palms have heavy trunks and the inflorescence is super long and oh so gorgeous.  You can see the difference between the Mexican fan on the left and the California fan on the right.   Although I’ve never read this, it seems like the California fans have MUCH longer inflorescence (that’s the bloom stems).

Last night when we left a local restaurant, we heard parrot chatter.  It was just before dusk and they were flying into these palms and feasting on the seeds.  Between the poor lighting and the fact that I was using a camera phone, I couldn’t get very good photos.  But can you spot the parrot in the shot below?   It’s perched on the left side.  There were only 5 or 6 birds, but they sounded like 50 or 60.

 I think parrots are one of the coolest birds we have in the Rio Grande Valley.   In Harlingen, you can usually spot them near the public library and Pendledon Park. Brownsville has a nice number of parrots but what other RGV towns boast a parrot population?   We planted a native pecan tree in our yard to feed parrots – but now I think we should tuck in a few more washingtonias.   Oh, I’ll love to have them visit my yard!