Parrots have now established themselves in Germany along the River Rhine. In Cologne and Dusseldorf there are colonies of them which can be seen feeding in the trees along the river and in parks. In Dusseldorf, they spend the night in the Stadtgarten. At sunset, they do what parrots do all over the world. They all meet at their home location and screech while flying from tree to tree. At sunrise their collective screeching welcomes the day.

Parrots are at home in hot climates. The Rhine parrots come from India. Although this species survives there, life is not easy. About 50% of them die each winter from the cold. The survivors breed up again in the spring and keep the species' numbers up. In a very cold winter like the last one, more parrots die.

Apart from their own suffering, the parrots are a problem for other local species, whose nesting places they occupy if they can. As the numbers of parrots increase, the number of local birds diminishes. So far, the climate of the region has taken care of this problem, keeping parrot numbers in check.

The parrots are very beautiful with long colourful tails.