The Brief

Parrots have been waking up Southern Californians with their squawking for more than 70 years now. Assumed to have arrived here as part of the pet trade as far back as the 1950s, they're originally from Mexico, where they're endangered.

Now, they're thriving in places like Los Angeles, their numbers exploding over the past decade.

That success may not seem like a surprise to you if you've been listening to them chatter away outside your apartment, or fly en masse from one city block to another.

However, their rise has captured the interest of academics, like those at Occidental College, who took me on a parrot outing in Pasadena, and made the case that they need the public's help to truly understand the birds.

Russell Campbell and John McCormack from Occidental College pointing out parrots congregating in sycamore trees at dusk in Pasadena.

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Jacob Margolis

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LAist

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A lot to learn

The team at Occidental set out to explore how and why the parrots have been thriving. It's curious because our environment is wildly different than where they come from in Mexico. It's colder here, with more development and less vegetation.

One of the reasons for their success seems to be — much like with the Swinhoe's white-eye — that over the past century, we inadvertently built an ideal environment for the parrots by importing non-native subtropical plants, kept alive with supplemental irrigation.

"We have this abundance of exotic trees that they've been able to take advantage of that none of the native species have been using. And so it was that perfect opening for them to be able to come in and thrive here," said Brenda Ramirez, staff lead of the Free Flying Los Angeles Parrot Project at Occidental College and lead author on a recent paper that looked specifically at red and lilac-crowned parrots.

They seem to love loquats, she said.

Another factor behind their rise is likely just their general ability to adapt.

"They seem to have some behavioral plasticity, in the sense that they can change their behaviors," said John McCormack, director of the Moore Lab of Zoology at Occidental. He joined us in the field alongside a colleague, Russell Campbell.

Parrots are quite smart and tolerant of a range of conditions. They're able to figure out survival in new habitats and which food sources will work for them — though, there's likely a limit to this adaptation, as they're often found in areas where the temperature doesn't usually drop below freezing like in Florida and Texas.

It also probably helps that they don't have any natural predators here.

Could we see a new parrot evolve?

Another fascinating aspect is that though different types of parrots have congregated here from various parts of Mexico, they're commingling and in some cases, are believed to be cross breeding and hybridizing — though it's not common.

"There is definitely evidence for hybridization," said McCormack.

"They look kind of halfway in between red-crowned and lilac-crowned, or they look like red-crowned with a little dash of yellow in the head, so maybe the hybridization is with yellow-headed parrots. We're just starting to get some DNA evidence where you can see it in the DNA as well."

There's a remote, theoretical possibility that we might even eventually see a unique Southern California parrot develop.

"That doesn't seem to be happening in the city right now, but you never know. Evolution's a journey and you don't know where it's gonna end up," said McCormack.

Yellow-headed parrots hanging out at dusk above a busy street in Pasadena.

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Russell Campbell

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How you can help scientists study the parrots

One of the best ways for scientists to research bird movement, behaviors and adaptations, is with regular in-field documentation, which is where you come in. Academics can pull data from eBird (Cornell University) and iNaturalist, a free app that you can download and use to both identify and take pictures of birds that you find. That's where Ramirez pulled information from for the latest study.

"The more people involved, the better," she said.

"We could potentially even draw habitat data and dietary data, because a lot of the time you'll see them eating or interacting with one another, and so there's tons of data that we can pull from these community science observations."

Burrowing parakeets fly through the sky.

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Russell Campbell

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Where to find parrots

If you'd like to go parrot spotting, Campbell recommends you head to one of the spots in the below map either right at dawn or dusk.

You can also visit eBird to find other potential roost sites near you.

When you get to your viewing spot, you're probably going to hear the parrots before you see them. And it's inevitable that when you do finally spot them, they'll all randomly fly away at once in search of another spot to sleep for the night.

Mitred parakeets sitting in a tree.

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Russell Campbell

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There are lots of different parrots to go looking for. Campbell passed along this list with recommendations for Southern Californians:

• Red-crowned parrots, lilac-crowned parrots and red-masked parakeets: Primarily in Northeast L.A.
• Yellow-headed parrot: Almost exclusively in Pasadena.
• Mitred parakeets and yellow-chevroned parakeets: Widespread across the L.A. area.
• Nanday parakeets: Malibu, Santa Monica and throughout the Santa Monica Mountains.

Red-crowned parrot in Los Angeles.

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Russell Campbell

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At the Bristol Swap Mall in Santa Ana, people are flocking to buy their Mexico soccer team jerseys and paraphernalia.

“The color is green and that says Mexico right here,” said Catherine Hernandez, who’s entering third grade, as she pointed to the replica Mexico soccer jersey her mother had bought her at a nearby stall.

She asked her mother to get her one the day after Mexico’s win against Ecuador and is already thinking about how she’ll feel wearing it Sunday during Mexico’s knockout game against England.

Belgica Cruz (left) helps her daughter, Catherine Hernandez, try on a replica Mexico soccer team jersey she bought in a Santa Ana indoor mall.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

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LAist

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“Excited, very excited because I’m Mexican and I love this shirt,” she said.

Hernandez was born in the U.S. and her mother was born in Mexico. Both say their Mexico jerseys symbolize those similar but different prides in their Mexican backgrounds.

As Mexico’s men’s national soccer team advances further than ever before into the World Cup tournament, it has captured the imagination of many in the U.S. who have, or are close to, those of Mexican heritage.

Proudly wearing the green jersey

The market vendor at the stall said only one adult-size 2026 jersey remained. So many had been sold they'd had to place an order for more.

A replica of Mexico's 2026 FIFA World Cup soccer jersey.

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Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

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LAist

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Many Mexico fans have been wearing their jerseys on the days leading up to the team's World Cup matches.

“On Monday, I looked around to see a sea of green, white and red, and it nearly brought me to tears in line at Costco,” said Alex Alcantar, who lives in Norwalk.

He was born and raised in the U.S. and he says his Mexico soccer jersey symbolizes that experience.

“Why I wear my Mexico jersey is because I want to visibly represent this community when our contributions to society are so heavily discounted,” he said.

The team’s growing prominence has also coaxed some others in Mexican communities in the U.S. to feel more confident in their identity.

“I've never used [a Mexico jersey] before,” said Xochi Flores, who was born in Oxnard and grew up with grandparents who were born in Mexico and worked farms in Oxnard.

Her family's work in this country, she said, reinforces her strong U.S. roots.

“I didn't feel like I could go around representing Mexico when I'm a Chicana, third generation, not the best Spanish speaker,” she said.

Xochi Flores (left), with her husband Cesar Castro, has become more comfortable wearing the soccer jersey recently.

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Courtesy Xochi Flores

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But in the past year, she’s felt closer to her Mexican roots, she said, as she’s seen farmworkers and other people of Mexican descent arrested by ICE agents.

So to her, wearing her Mexico soccer jersey means leaving behind insecurities she used to have about not being “Mexican enough,” as well as “not being American enough.”

“I want my kids to see me embracing all of the parts of me. … They don't have those insecurities, and that makes me happy,” Flores said.

Wearing the jersey when you're 'Mexican-ish'

The stalls are attracting all types of customers. “I'm just looking for a Mexican soccer jersey,” said Son Lam, who lives in nearby Orange and identifies as Vietnamese.

Lam says he’s become addicted to soccer since the World Cup started two weeks ago. Buying and wearing a Mexican soccer team jersey means showing off his newfound sports fandom already embraced by his extended family

“My wife is Mexican and to me, [wearing the Mexico jersey] means I can fit in with the family more," he said as he laughed.

However they identify, all these shoppers will likely be wearing their jerseys as they watch Mexico compete against England on Sunday, potentially advancing to the next round, joining millions of cheering fans in the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Santa Ana voters could be asked in November to maintain the city’s 1.5% sales tax, which was set to decrease in 2029 and eventually expire.

Voters approved the citywide sales tax in 2018 on the condition that it sunset in 20 years. Now, the Santa Ana City Council will vote Tuesday on whether to ask voters in November to make the tax permanent.

The big picture

Only about one-third of cities in Orange County have a local sales tax on top of the county-imposed sales tax of 7.75%. Sales taxes in most of Los Angeles County are much higher — L.A.’s countywide sales tax is 9.75% and the highest total sales taxes for cities in L.A. County are in Lancaster and Palmdale, at 11.25% each, according to the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration.

Other potential tax hikes in OC

Voters in Orange will be considering a sales tax hike on their November ballot, after failing to get voters’ approval in 2024. San Clemente voters will also consider a local sales tax in November to pay for more sand to shore up local beaches.

Just off the Beach Boulevard exit of the 22 Freeway in Westminster, you'll find a Walmart Supercenter. Make your way through the busy parking lot, and you'll spot a retired school bus parked near the entrance, painted in psychedelic purples and blues. This is Playa Baby, and they're quietly making some of the most interesting tacos in Orange County right now.

A name with two meanings

The name Playa Baby holds double significance for husband-and-wife team Amanda Rios and Red Feather — two people who came to this parking lot from very different places.

Amanda Rios and Red Feather outside their Playa Baby fish taco truck in Westminster.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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The two got married in 2022 at Burning Man, on a dried lakebed known as the playa. And in Spanish, playa means beach — a nod to the region Red Feather's family is from in Nayarit, a state in west-central Mexico next to the Pacific. The state itself takes its name from Red Feather's people, the Naayeri.

Combined cultures

Red Feather grew up in the mountains of Nayarit with his grandmother after losing both his father and grandfather in a car accident. His mother, known as Chicha, had already immigrated to California and was working to send for her children. He lived in an indigenous community largely untouched by colonization — matriarchal and connected to the land. When Chicha finally sent for him, the family settled in Santa Ana, where he grew up working alongside her, selling tamales and other food from small shops — and learning to cook in the process. He eventually went to art school, became an industrial designer, and found it so unsatisfying that he walked away, instead launching a fish taco truck in 2020 under the name School Fish Taco.

Amanda is originally from Bayan, Georgia, a small town she describes as "an hour from anything" — the kind of place where food isn't casual, it's communal, and you cook for everyone who comes through the door. She dropped out of the University of Georgia to start a small catering operation from her apartment, then enrolled at Johnson & Wales in Charlotte before working her way through kitchens across the South. In 2016, she moved to California and eventually became a private chef, including cooking alongside Chef Nikki Stewart on Dave Chappelle's team — events like his 50th birthday, Summer Camp, and the Blue Note Jazz Fest in Napa.

It was during that time she crossed paths with Red Feather. She came on as a consultant to his food truck business — and never left.

For a while, she treated Playa Baby like a side hustle, balancing the truck with her work on Chappelle's team. Then she started to notice something. "I was still on the road and I was watching our numbers uptick," said Rios. So she decided to come home and focus on the business, rounding out the menu to include the lemonade program that would become one of its biggest draws.

The OG Combo at Playa Baby — three tacos and an elote on a stick.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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The food

When you go, start with the OG Combo — three tacos (fish, shrimp, Mixto), elote on a stick, and a Playa Punch.

The fish is tilapia, marinated in lime before it's battered. The batter itself is seasoned and thinned out, resulting in a crisp, delicate exterior that's the opposite of the puffy cloud you'd get from classic fish and chips — citrusy and light, a technique Red Feather learned from his mother.

The elote at Playa Baby comes loaded — Cotija, chipotle drizzle, cilantro, crema.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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The shrimp is more traditional than you might expect from a shrimp taco, yet still manages to stand out. Seasoned before and after, it comes out plumper and crisper, leaning closer to a classic tempura. Both tacos arrive topped with red and green cabbage slaw, crema, chipotle mayo, and Cotija cheese. The tortillas come from Ranchera Tortilleria in Garden Grove — lime, salt, corn, no preservatives — and taste handmade, holding their own against the stuffed contents. The fish itself comes from D&D Seafood in Westminster.

The elote is loaded — Cotija, chipotle drizzle, cilantro, crema — and the corn is fresh enough to pop with each bite.

The lemonade

At Playa Baby, the lemonades — Amanda calls them Buckets — are as central to the menu's identity as the tacos. Each one starts with fresh-pressed lemonade or limeade and handmade ginger syrup, then gets dressed up with fruit and herbs: Georgia Girl (peach, mint) is a nod to her own roots; Florida Boi leans blackberry and coconut; O.C. Gworl goes tropical with lychee and passionfruit.

The Playa Punch, one of Playa Baby's signature handcrafted lemonades, served with a yellow flower garnish.

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Gab Chabrán

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LAist

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The idea came together in 2023 at the National Restaurant Show in Chicago, where in-house beverage was the buzzword of the year. After seeing a woman on TikTok fund pharmacy school by selling lemonade, Amanda tracked down the man in Alabama who builds pneumatic lemon smashers and spent a month testing 50 combinations before landing on the menu they have now.

More than a fish taco

Despite Amanda's imprint on the food, she's quick to point out that this isn't a Black fish fry. In her home state of Georgia, fish fry means catfish. What she's bringing to Playa Baby is a philosophy — season everything before it hits the batter, never leave a taco unfinished, treat the food like a gift rather than a transaction.

That philosophy extends to how the business is run. The truck has spent the past year parked at this Walmart Supercenter after years of working Taco Alley in Santa Ana, a move Amanda made after finding a vendor program through a Facebook group for women food truckers. The new spot opened the truck up to people who couldn't easily get to them before — families with strollers, older customers, anyone in a wheelchair.

There's no brick-and-mortar in the plan. The goal, eventually, is to franchise the truck model — without losing what makes it work. As Amanda puts it: "I gave you everything I got in this tiny menu, so it all hits."

What Playa Baby teaches us is that good food doesn't need to rely on rigid technique or even the "right" ingredients — sometimes it just needs to be an honest expression of the people behind it and the story they're telling. That feels significant and worth the trip.