Argentine Town Struggles with Parrot Invasion

The Argentine town of Hilario Ascasubi near the country's Atlantic coast has a problem not many places have ever had.

It has too many parrots.

Biologists say thousands of the green-yellow-and-red birds have invaded the town. These experts say deforestation has driven the birds' migration.

The problem is that the birds bite the town's electric cables. This is causing electricity outages. People living in the town are also unhappy about the birds' noise making and the birds' droppings, or waste that is getting everywhere.

Daiana Lera is a biologist. She said much of Argentina's forestland has been lost over the years. As a result, the parrots are going into the cities.

“The hillsides are disappearing, and this is causing them to come closer to the cities to find food, shelter and water,” Lera said.

In the past few years, the parrots have started to arrive in the autumn and winter to seek refuge. Local people say, at times, there are up to 10 parrots for each of the town's 5,000 human inhabitants. Only during the summer do the birds migrate south to the cliffs of Patagonia for breeding season.

Images show hundreds of birds perched on electric cables, buildings and churches.

Ramón Alvarez is a local reporter for Radio Taxi Fm. About the parrots, he said, “They bite and damage the cables, water can get into the wires when it rains....”

That affects Alvarez directly. “It goes without saying that when the power goes out, there is no radio,” he said.

The locals have tried different methods to scare away the birds, such as noise and even laser light. But nothing has worked.

“We need to start to restore our natural environments,” Lera said. “But until that happens, we have to think of strategies that allow us to live together in the most harmonious way possible in our towns.”

I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

Miguel Bianco and Agustin Marcarian reported this story for Reuters news agency. Mario Ritter, Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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cable –n. thick wires usually covered by plastic that carry electricity

inhabitant –n. a person who lives in a particular place or area

cliff –n. a high steep surface of rock, earth, or ice

breeding –adj. the producing and raising of plants or animals by sexual reproduction

perch –v. to sit or stand on a high place, especially for birds

harmonious –adj. marked by agreement in feeling or action; agreeable