VOA科学技术2024--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' migration¹.

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 harmonious³ way possible in our towns."

Words in This Story

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

perch² -v. to sit or stand on a high place, especially for birds

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

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

3 harmonious   

adj.和睦的，调和的，和谐的，协调的

参考例句：

• Their harmonious relationship resulted in part from their similar goals.他们关系融洽的部分原因是他们有着相似的目标。
• The room was painted in harmonious colors.房间油漆得色彩调和。