The wild parrots of Brooklyn

wild South American parrots escape the pet trade and take up residence in the urban jungle

Story and photos by Sarah Ause
Best Friends Magazine, May/June 2010

A cacophony of squawks and chirps echoes throughout the campus of Brooklyn College. Hundreds of wild Quaker parrots, native to Argentina, have built their nests in the athletic field’s lights and in the trees lining neighboring streets. A community garden is blooming on the west side of the field, and local resident Don Jose takes a break from tending to his plants to admire the birds, one of the largest colonies in Brooklyn. “I love them,” he says in his thick New York accent. “I hope they’ll be here forever.”

There are many theories as to how the birds came to live here: sinking ships, hurricanes blowing them north, a zoo aviary collapsing during a blizzard. The most widely accepted, and the most likely, is that during the heyday of the parrot trade in the late 1960s, a cargo shipment of wild-caught birds bound for New York City pet shops was accidentally, or deliberately, opened. However they got here, the Quaker parrots have put down roots in Brooklyn.

Still, not everyone welcomes the birds, also known as monk parakeets, as enthusiastically as Don Jose. The species is illegal to own as a pet in nine states, mostly due to fears that the parrots could threaten crops if they got loose and reproduced. In some areas of Argentina, they were considered agricultural pests and were the target of a government-sponsored eradication program. Their deleterious effect on the environment, however, is unproven, and because the birds gravitate to urban environments in the U.S., they haven’t done significant damage to crops in this country. And as Don Jose explains, they haven’t touched the community garden at the college.

In New York, their major clash is with electrical companies. As the only parrot species in the world that builds nests with twigs and other items rather than taking up shelter in existing caverns, such as holes in trees, these birds have become a city nuisance. Seeking warmth in the chilly Northeast winters, they often build their nests high up in power poles and electrical equipment, which can cause fire hazards and power outages. Electrical companies have reacted by tearing down their nests and euthanizing the birds, but they are now seeking alternative ways to deal with them.

At Greenwood Cemetery, home to another large colony in Brooklyn, the birds are proving to be more beneficial. Taking up residence in the tall cathedral gate, they keep pigeon nests at bay. Pigeon feces are detrimental to the brownstone.

Because of excessive capture for the pet trade and the loss of their ancestral habitats to development, a third of the world’s parrot species are threatened with extinction in the wild. Conservationists hope that adapting to different climates and more urban environments will help the birds survive. Nearly 15 non-native species of parrots now live in cities across the U.S., in states from Florida to California, and as far north as New York.

New York parrot enthusiast Steve Baldwin, who often acts as a liaison between the parrot and human worlds of Brooklyn, is happy the birds are here. “The fact that North America has a new parrot on its shores is, in my view, a blessing, especially because our countrymen wiped out our only native parrot – the Carolina parakeet – nearly a hundred years ago,” he says. “Nature has given us the rarest of gifts: a second chance. Let’s not blow it!”

]]> http://www.saussie.com/2009/12/22/birdscapes/feed/ 5 http://www.saussie.com/2009/11/15/sunday-afternoon-at-home/ http://www.saussie.com/2009/11/15/sunday-afternoon-at-home/#comments Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:32:07 +0000 Sarah http://www.saussie.com/?p=1469 It always blows my mind that when traveling by air, you can be in one place in the morning, and on the other side of the country a few hours later. I woke up in Atlanta yesterday, but after a four hour flight, a two and a half hour layover, another one hour flight, and an hour and a half drive home, I was back in my bed in the Utah desert. Weird.

I wanted to be productive today… go to yoga, maybe clean the house, but after a full day of travel, I was not up for any of it… especially considering I spent all day Thursday traveling out to Atlanta (it was a very quick trip). So I puttered unproductively around the house, ran some errands, and then found myself bored again at home. That’s when my animals come in handy. My household loves each other and provides endless hilarity.

]]> http://www.saussie.com/2009/11/15/sunday-afternoon-at-home/feed/ 1 http://www.saussie.com/2009/05/16/mickey-rourke/ http://www.saussie.com/2009/05/16/mickey-rourke/#comments Sat, 16 May 2009 13:39:33 +0000 Sarah http://www.saussie.com/?p=377 When I went to Los Angeles the other week, it was to meet up with Mickey Rourke, the Wrestler himself, who was looking to adopt a rescue bird. Sunny would be that bird.

Wendy and I took off on our road trip from Utah to L.A., bird in tow, and the next day found ourselves at the very top of Beverly Hills. The meeting of Sunny and Mickey was only a meeting, letting us see if they would be a good match. We would tow Sunny back if it didn’t feel right. But well, it felt great. Sunny, who can be very picky about who he likes, took to Mickey within a minute. And Mickey, who has had birds over the years, said and did all the right things. We felt completely comfortable sealing the deal and making it official right then and there. And so we did.

Everyone knows Mickey as a dog person, after he publicly thanked his pups during an award acceptance speech, but here’s to hoping we hear Sunny’s name at the next Academy Awards!

Check out the Best Friends story here.

]]> http://www.saussie.com/2009/05/16/mickey-rourke/feed/ 3 http://www.saussie.com/2009/04/30/introducing-pippi-and-monkey/ http://www.saussie.com/2009/04/30/introducing-pippi-and-monkey/#comments Fri, 01 May 2009 03:42:18 +0000 Sarah http://www.saussie.com/2009/04/30/introducing-pippi-and-monkey/ Imagine spending 20 years of your life in a dank basement with no windows. No sunshine, ever, just fluorescent lights set to a timer. You live in a rusty wire cage, hanging from the ceiling, and your excrement stains the walls around you. The only contact you ever get is when a man comes down the stairs to give you food and water, and to check if you have produced anything that could benefit him… an egg.

My household expanded a few weeks ago when I brought home Pippi and Monkey, two of the 22 birds Wendy and I rescued from a hoarder last month. The woman and her husband had over 80 parrots, around half of which were breeders living in the basement I described above. All the ones we took came from down there.

There are 14 still left down in the basement, and it broke our hearts not to take them. But the woman wouldn’t let us. We were lucky to get 22. We went there to take 12, but convinced her to surrender the other 10 to us. One step at a time, I guess. Maybe someday she will let us take all her birds… but the 14 in the basement are the ones who really need it. Those are who we really want out.

I had no desire to add more critters to my household, but the only way we got Pippi and Monkey out was by me telling the woman that I personally would adopt them. I didn’t really mean it, but over the course of the five-hour drive home, I realized maybe I did. Already in their 20s, they will not be a life-long commitment to me, but I can guarantee them a happy ending… sunshine, fresh food, and attention for however many years they have left.

While the other birds from that rescue are, well, let’s just say “more difficult,” mine are incredibly well-adjusted. They really just wanted some attention, and now that they have it, they are so happy. They sit on my shoulders while I eat my breakfast and pick food off my spoon or lips. Pippi has grown especially fond of me and likes snuggle up to my neck, crawl inside my shirt, and has even started trying to regurgitate food for me… which may sound gross, but is actually something they do out of love. They are loud little shits, but I think I might love them just as much as they love me… just don’t expect me to throw up any of my food for them.

]]> http://www.saussie.com/2009/04/30/introducing-pippi-and-monkey/feed/ 1 http://www.saussie.com/2009/02/26/some-photos/ http://www.saussie.com/2009/02/26/some-photos/#comments Thu, 26 Feb 2009 21:47:30 +0000 Sarah http://www.saussie.com/2009/02/26/some-photos/ I know I have been seriously slacking on posting lately. I have plenty of stuff to post too… I just haven’t been posting it. But fear not, this will change. To usher the posting back in, here are some photos from the past week or so at work.

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