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FOOD ITEMS OF NATURALIZED PARROTSIN SOUTHERN CALWORNIAKIMBALL L. GARRETT, Sectionof Vertebrates,Natural History Museumof LosAngelesCounty,900 ExpositionBlvd., Los Angeles,California90007KAREN T. MABB, CHARLES T. COLLINS, and LISA M. KARES, DepartmentofBiological ciences, alifornia tateUniversity, ongBeach,California 0840

The increasing stablishment f parrots in southernCalifornia, withpopulations ow exceeding 500 individualsn the greaterLosAngeles reaalone Garrett1997), suggestshat impacts f thesenon-native pecies nfood resources ouldbecomesubstantial. lthough argelyconfined ohighlymodified rbanandsuburbanabitats ominated y non-nativelora,the severalnaturalizedparrot taxa neverthelessmay damageornamentalandcommercialruit reesandpossiblyompetewithnativebirdspeciesorfood. Suchconcerns ave ed us to compiledata on food useof parrots nthe greaterLos Angeles egionof southernCalifornia,data we gatheredwhileconductingesearcheported y Garrett 1997), Mabb 1997a, b), andCollinsand Kares (1997).Published ata on parrot food items n Californiaare few. Froke (1981)compiled ood data for threeArnazonaspeciesn the San GabrielValley.Particularlymportanttems n hisstudy ncludedruits,seeds, r flowers fthe EnglishWalnut Juglans egia),SweetGum (Liquidarnbar tyraciflua),Camphor (Cinnarnornurn arnphora),Blue Gum (Eucalyptusglobulus),juniper (Juniperusspp.), Western Sycamore Platanus racernosa), ndPecan (Carya illinoensis). Arrowood (1981) listed some food items of"Canary-winged arakeets" Brotogerisoersicolurus/chiriri)insouthernLosAngelesCounWandSan Francisco. he datawe present re the first oinclude he complete axonomic ange of parrotsnaturalizedn southernCalifornia;we providedata for nine speciesno recentdata were availablefor the Canary-wingedParakeet,Brotogeris oersicolurus ensustricto,which s marginally stablishedn the region).METHODS

Foragingobservations ere ours, or reported o Garrett by numerousobservers uringhis generalsurveys f the status nd distribution f parrotsin the greaterLos Angelesarea (Garrett 1997). Foragingobservations reskewed oward he mostabundant peciese.g.,Arnazonaoiridigenalis) rthose esidingn the most ntensively tudied reas e.g., the San GabrielValley).The data are presentedn the form of a matrixof food temsandparrotspecies; ecause f uneven egional nd axonomic ffort,we do notpresentquantitative ataon foodusebut rather ank the usageof each temin four categories: o usenoted,one to four observations,ive to ten (ormore)observations,nd importantor regularly sed ood sources, suallywith > 10 observationsr >25% of all foraging bservationsf that species.

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FOOD ITEMS OF NATURALIZED PARROTS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONTable 1 shows he usageof food tems or nine established arrotspecies

in the greaterLos Angeles egion.The numberof food items (excludingthoseat feeders)detectedper species Table2) varies rom three (Yellow-headed Parrot) and six (Red-masked nd Blue-crownedparakeets) o 21(Lilac-crownedParrot), 24 (Red-crownedParrot), and 32 (Mitred Parakeet;Figure1), with a mean of 13.6 itemsper species. hesenumbers houldnotbe interpretedas dietarybreadths,as they appear to correlatemainlywiththe frequencywith which the species s observed which, n turn, dependslargelyon the parrot species' bundance). ietary overlaps re great. andconsiderablymore study, ncorporating easonal ariation, s required odetect he ways n whichparrotspeciesmightdiffer n resource tilization.More study s alsoneeded o determine he degreeof resource pecializationby naturalizedarrotsn southern alifornia. orexample,Yellow-chevronedParakeets Brotogerishiriri)predictably xploit he seeds borne n large

Figure1. MitredParakeet,Aratinga mirrata, feedingon fruitsof Myoporum aetumin lower Zuma Canyon,Malibu,Los AngelesCounty,24 September1994.Photo by Kimball L. Garrett

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Table 1 ParrotFood tems n the GreaterLos AngelesRegionFood PK NN AA AM AE BC AF AO AV

Fruits/seedsSycamore/planeree ..............Platanus spp.** *** ***Fig Ficusspp.Sweet Gum * * *** ***Liquidambar tyracifiuaWalnut uglansegia ........* * * ** **Oak Quercusspp.PecanCarya llinoensis ......Apricot ......Prunus armeniacaMagnolia ......Magnoliagrandifiora

Chinaberry ....Ylelia azedarachCatalina herry ....Prunus licifoliassp. yoniiPalms Araceae ....OliveOleaeuropaea ....Silk-flossTree ***ChorisiaspeciosaBrazilian epper chinus pp. ** *Myoporum ** *Ylyoporum aetum

Redwood * **SequoiasempervirensCotoneaster * * *Cotoneasterspp.PinePinus pp. * * *Sunflower * * *Helianthus spp.Carob * * *Ceratonia siliquaOrchid tree * * *Bauhiniaspp.

Hackberry eltisspp. * *AppleYlalus pp. * *Cypress upressuspp. * *Camphorree * *CinnamomumcamphoraCarrotwood * *CupaniopsisnacardioidesChinese Elm * *Ulmusparviflora *AlderAlnus spp.Almond *PrunusamygdalusAshFraxinussp. *Avocado *Persea americana

*BirchBetula spp.Black locust *RobiniapseudoacaciaBottlebrush *Callistemon spp.

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Table 1 (Continued)Food PK NN AA AM AE BC AF AO AVCoffeeberry *Rharnnus pp.Golden Arborvitae *

Thuja spp.Juniper uniperus pp. *Kumquat *Fortunella spp.Loquat *Erioboth ya aponicaMimosa *Albizia ulibrissanMulberryMorusspp. *Norfolk sland pine" *Araucaria heterophyllaOrangeCitrus sinensis *PeachPrunuspersica *Persimmon *Diospyrosspp.Pomegranate *Punica granaturn ,Primrose tree *LagunariapattersoniiSilvermaple *Acer saccharinurn

Tulip ree *Liriodendron ulipiferaFlowers/nectarEucalyptus ...........Eucalyptus pp.Jacaranda ** ** **Jacaranda cutifoliaRed Ironbark ......EucalyptusCoral tree * * *Erythrinaspp.

Lemon-scented Gum * *EucalyptuscitriodoraAcaciaAcaciasppo *CapeHoneysuckle *TecorneriacapensisFeedersWildbird seed mix .......Sunflower feeder) * * *Peanuts feeder) * *Corn *

aWithin achcategory ood temsare listedby decreasing egreeof use.Key to parrot species: PK, Psittacula krameri (Rose-ringedParakeet); AA, Aratingaacuticaudata Blue-crownedarakeet); M, A. mirrata (MitredParakeet);AE, A. erythrogenys(Red-maskedarakeet); N, Nandayushenday Black-hoodedarakeet); C, Brotogeris hiriri(Yellow-chevronedarakeet); F, Amazona inschi Lilac-crownedarrot);AV, A. viridigenalis(Red-crowned arrot);AO, A. oratrix (Yellow-headed arrot).Degree of usage: blank],no usagedetected; , one to four observations;*, five to ten (+)observations;**, important ood item, usuallywith >10 observations r >25% of all foragingobservationsor that species.

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FOOD ITEMS OF NATURALIZED PARROTS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIATable Number of Foods Recordedfor Naturaized Parrots in Greater LosAngelesParrot Number of foodsPsittacula krarneri b 14Nandayus enday 7Aratingaacuticaudata 6Aratinga nitrata 32Aratinga rythrogenys 6Brotogerishiriri 11Arnazona inschi 21Arnazonaviridigenalis 24Arnazona oratrix 3aNot ncludingtemsat feeders.bAlsonoted at seed feeders.

pods)of the Silk-floss ree (Chorisia peciosa; igure2), butthe degree owhich heir survivaln the regiondependson thiscommonornamental reeis unknown.The meannumberof parrotspecies sing particularood tem (exclud-ingseeds t feeders) as2.2. For hiscalculationllEucalyptuswere reatedas one food tem, thoughspecializationithin hat genus ikely e.g., someparrotsusing he nectar-riched flowersof E. ficifolia, otherschewing heunopened lower capsules f E. globosusor other species).Especiallyimportant oodsourcesor naturalized arrotsn southernCaliforniadenti-fied n thisstudynclude ucalyptus pp.,walnut Juglans egia),sycamore(Platanus racernosa,but probablyalso exotic plane trees, Platanus xacerifolia), oak (Quercusspp.), Sweet Gum (Liquidarnbarstyracifiua),Magnolia Magnoliagrandifiora)olive 01eaeuropaea),andvariouspalms

(Araceae).Seedprovided t feeders s a frequent ood tem of the smallandmedium-sizedpeciesBrotogeris,mostAratinga, Nandayus,Psittacula),but not of Amazona parrots.ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank thosewho submitted arrot observationso Garrett. Philip C. Baker,CaliforniaStateUniversity t Long Beach,and RobertGustafson, aturalHistoryMuseumof Los AnagelesCounty, assistedwith some plant identifications ndnomenclature.LITERATURE CITEDArrowood, P. C. 1981. Importationand statusof Canary-winged arakeets(Brotogerisversicolorus s/c]P. L. S. Muller) n California, n Conservation fNew WorldParrots R. F. Pasquier, d.), pp. 425-429. ICBP Tech. Publ. 1.Collins, C. T., and L. M. Kares. 1997. Seasonal lock sizesof naturalizedMitredParakeetsAratinga rnitrata) n Long Beach,California.W. Birds28:218-222.

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Figure2. Yellow-chevronedarakeet.Brotogeris hiriri. at seedpodsof Silk-flossTree, Chorisia speciosa, n ExpositionPark, Los Angeles,6 April 1989.Photo by Kimball L. Garrett

Froke,J. B. 1981. Populations.movements,oraging nd nestingof fetal Amazonaparrots n southernCalifornia.M.S. thesis,HumboldtStateUniversity, rcata,CA.Garrett, K. L. 1997. Populationstatusand distributionof naturalizedparrots insouthern California. W. Birds 28:181-195.Mabb, K. T. 1997a. Roostingbehaviorof naturalizedparrots in the San GabrielValley, California.W. Birds 28:202-208.Mabb,K. T. 1997b. Nestingbehavior f Amazonaparrots nd Rose-ringed arakeetsin the San GabrielValley, California.W. Birds 28:209-217.

Accepted 8 September 1997

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