Polly wants a peacan nut

2004-07-04 21:55

Craig Bishop

Pietermaritzburg - For the first time in 45 years, scores of Cape Parrots have descended on the small KwaZulu-Natal town of Creighton. And it seems they have discovered an unusual taste for pecan nuts.

Locals say it is a common sight to see upside-down parrots frantically hammering away at the nuts.

But while fascinated locals are turning out in droves to see these critically endangered, colourful and playful birds, their sudden appearance might be a desperate attempt to find food in a drought, according to the Cape Parrot Working Group's Colleen Downs.

Her theory is backed up by sightings of the birds feeding on jacaranda and syringa, which do not normally form part of their diet.

The last time the birds were seen in Creighton Village itself (normally they stay in the indigenous forests around the village) was in 1959 - also a drought year.

Creighton is on the international twitchers' map for Cape Parrots.

- The Witness