During the regular afternoon frenzy at my front bird feeder yesterday I noticed a rather unusual sight. There were a dozen parakeets perched on the top power line above the feeder, that part is not the least bit unusual.

One, however, was hanging upside down on the bottom line. The birds above seemed to be chattering quietly about the weirdo below them. To quote a fun little ditty from Sesame Street, “One of these things is not like the others…”

Curiosity piqued, I snapped a few quick pictures with my phone before the flock flew away. Good thing I did because they were an entirely new species of bird for me! Meet the Blue-crowned Parakeet (Thectocercus acuticaudatus), another naturalized avian here in Florida.

While these small green parrots are known to be good “talkers” they are nowhere near as loud as the Nanday Parakeets that typically frequent my yard. I do hope these handsome birds return, I’d love to get some better photos of them!