Largest parrot colony lives in Patagonia's cliffs

The new documentary series «Patagonia: Life on the Edge of the World» explores one of the wildest places on Earth.

At the northern tip of Patagonia's desert coastline in Argentina, the sky above El Cóndor is filled with shifting clouds of chattering, colourful parrots.

The crumbling sandstone cliffs of the headland are home to the world's largest parrot colony, with 37,000 nests.

The burrowing parakeets get their name from the way they dig their nests into sandy cliff faces. These tunnels can be up to 3 metres deep.

With their green plumage and white rings around their eyes, the parrots stand out in this barren landscape overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. When the birds take flight, their blue and red feathers light up against the sky.

The cliffs of El Cóndor serve as a nesting site for a species that was once found throughout South America, but the parrot population is now in decline.

The parrots' food source in the Argentine highlands is disappearing faster than the Amazon rainforest. This endangered region of desert grasslands and shrubs, which the parrots favour, has suffered from deforestation.

The parrots must fly three hours from their nests just to find the seeds and berries they bring back to their chicks in the cliff-side nests. Each year the birds must travel further to find food, and it is estimated that adults fly up to 264 kilometres per day, according to scientists at Justus Liebig University Giessen in Germany.

In addition, the threat posed by humans and the increasing tourism in the region make life difficult for the parrots.

Parrots are monogamous and mate for life – and they do everything together.
It is striking the way they look at and touch each other. They are constantly giving each other kisses.

Amid these glimpses of affection, there were also moments marked by tension. Parrots are prey to the peregrine falcon, the fastest bird in the world. It can reach speeds of 386 kilometers per hour in a dive when swooping down on its prey.