Parrots in Hong Kong | Gwulo: Old Hong Kong

Parrots in Hong Kong

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Submitted by Richard Muirhead on Thu, 2014-01-30 02:44

I read a story in the Hong Kong Telegraph of March 14th 1902 reporting the sightings of 2 parrots in Hong Kong,one on Hong Kong Island the other in the New Territories. Yet I thought "conventional wisdom" had it that the parrots only appeared in Hong Kong during or after the Japanese occupation of 1941-45.

Any thoughts anyone?

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Submitted by harryhktc on Thu, 2014-01-30 04:00.

Recall a flock of about 6 white cockatoos often seen in the wooded areas of mid-levels - Bowen Road and above - in the 1970's. White with bright yellow crests. Attracted, I think, by my neighbour's hen feed.

H.

Submitted by Richard Muirhead on Thu, 2014-01-30 05:14.

Thanks H.Did you ever get any photos?

Submitted by harryhktc on Thu, 2014-01-30 06:00.

Sorry, Richard -  they were a bit too quick for me and I didn't have the patience of a wildlife photographer to lay in wait ! At the time I thought they were simply escaped birds which had found a regular easy meal amongst my neighbour's hens.

H.

Submitted by Adam on Thu, 2014-01-30 09:47.

Sounds like the sulphur crested cockatoos that flew by my house on Upper Albert Road most days of the ten years I lived there. I moved out in 2010, but they may still be around. They destroyed a lot of mature trees in the area.

Submitted by Richard Muirhead on Fri, 2014-01-31 01:26.

I seem to recall a Gwulo photo posted up about 1-2 years ago of a float in the Central district depicting a white cockatoo, this would have been c. 1930s. Does anyone have more information?

Submitted by David on Sat, 2014-02-01 11:01.

The photo of the procession with the bird is at:

http://gwulo.com/node/9147

Regards, David

Submitted by Richard Muirhead on Sat, 2014-02-01 18:47.

Thanks David for posting it. I wonder if the white parrot or cockatoo in the procession are depictions of the same species as the ones that have been seen in the wild in Hong Kong?

Submitted by jill on Sun, 2014-02-02 02:03.

The white cockatoos depicted in the procession are definitely the same Sulphur-crested cockatoos that fly wild in the wooded areas of the mid-levels. I was fascinated to see them flying noisily down the steep wooded cliffs that drop down from the top of Broadwood Road when I was walking there in 2004. I had only seen them in captivity previously.

Jill

Submitted by Richard Muirhead on Sun, 2014-02-02 22:54.

I wonder if they`ve been in Hong Kong much longer than previously thought?

Submitted by Nona on Mon, 2014-02-03 07:52.

Hi Richard, fancy meeting you here! LOL!

We inherited a sulphur crested cockie called Laura from a friend of my mother's who was leaving HK in 1962. We had her cage hanging from our guava tree in the garden of our house in Broadwood Road and she seemed to be happy enough with her surroundings.

A few years later we had a flock of wild (?) sulphur crested cockatoos which liked the 3 Flame trees in our garden so they camp there for about a week, pulling branches off and generally making a very loud noise.  They were also very interested in Laura, and a couple of them would sit on the outside of her cage, talking to her.

The next year they came back, only this time one of them decided he would do whatever he could to free her and succeeded. After days of fiddling with the key ring that held her door shut, he managed to open the door of her cage and she flew off with her new friends!

I know there was a bird market in Central (can't remember where exactly) because I bought another sulphur crested for my mother, thinking she missed Laura!  I was told the bird was tame and so brought him to Paquerette's sitting on a bar with just a chain attaching him to it. We got a taxi home and the bird must have got spooked, as he latched onto my mother's thumb and there was quite a lot of blood dripping on the back seat, much to the taxi driver's horror!

Another time I went to get what I thought was a mynah bird from the same market as my mother had said she'd always wanted one, and I guess they saw me coming as I got sold a crow :)

I wonder if that flock of cockatoos that Jill saw 10 years ago had any of Laura's descendants in it?!?!

Submitted by Richard Muirhead on Mon, 2014-02-03 18:36.

Hi Nona

This is very interesting,thanks alot. I lived in Hong Kong from 1966-85 and remember quite alot of the wild life,I had a tame pet sparrow for a while. Do you remember any large mammals? Did you ever hear rumours of tigers/leopards?

Rich.

Submitted by Nona on Tue, 2014-02-04 20:44.

Richard, yes. I do remember hearing about tigers in the NT when I was young (born in HK in 1947 & left in 1974).

I have a book by Geoffrey Herkots which my parents kept and I recall him writing about tigers in the NT in that.  If I can dig it out, I'll scan the page and send it to you via FB, if that's OK!  Will also see if he mentions any other large mammals in the book too.

BTW, I hope you had a great birthday :D

Submitted by Richard Muirhead on Wed, 2014-02-05 02:24.

Hiya!

Thanks I did have a great birthday,November 5th,but I don`t celebrate the fire works aspect,I think that`s because when I was growing up in Hong Kong in the late 1960s-early `70s fireworks were banned because they were used in bombs by pro Communist terrorists.Is that how you rember it?

Thanks for the offer of the scans of Herklots`s book,but if it`s a copy of the Hong Kong Countryside my friend Jon already has it and the Hong Kong Naturalist is online.

I`m really looking for anything Herklots overlooked .Do you ever recall seeing those small monkeys with little pig-like tails?

Submitted by harryhktc on Wed, 2014-02-19 03:21.

Believe cockatoos can live up to 80 years, so the ones flying around Bowen Road and above in the 1960/70's  may still be around :) .

Submitted by Nona on Wed, 2014-02-19 18:37.

Yes Richard, that was the book my parents had and which I've inherited!  

OK, won't worry about digging it out of the piles of boxes in the shed ;)