The bird, a nonnative species whose population ballooned in the 1970s and 80s, became emblematic of Temple City, Calif. By Livia Albeck-Ripka Reporting from Los Angeles. For decades, the residents of ...

My encounters with the red bird had been limited until a week after my mother died. I was sitting on the couch, consumed with grief when it first arrived. The red bird flew to the transom and peered ...