Monk Parakeets in Des Moines area

[Doug & Nina Harr]

Yesterday I observed and ID'd 2 Monk Parakeets at the east edge of Windsor Heights but was not able to photograph them.  I returned early this morning and managed to get several photos in some nice morning light (3 copies attached). 

This all began when Jane Clark received an email Thursday from a woman who walks the Walnut Creek Trail every day and has been hearing and seeing some "small parrots" all summer.  So she asked Jane what they might be, and that email was forwarded to me. I assumed they might be Monk Parakeets (MOPA) and went to look for them Friday morning.  After being at the site for about 20 minutes I started hearing noisy chattering and soon saw them fly to the top of a nearby cell phone tower, but by the time I grabbed my camera they took off, flew across I-235, and I never saw them while waiting about 2 more hours.  On returning this morning, I started hearing the chattering about 9 AM and was then able to shoot photos for about 15 minutes. They were definitely MOPAs, nearly 1 ft. in size, with lime-green backs & bellies, whitish foreheads, faces and chest, and blue primaries.

These will be reported to the IOU records committee, although likely will not be approved for listing as an Iowa species.  The birds could be escapees from some local pet captivity, and there is no way to know of any other wild source. However, they are common nesters in Florida, in south Texas, and have colony-nested for many years in New Jersey, Chicago and other US sites.  They build huge year-round nests, and it appears they may be attempting to do that atop the cell tower here.  And, about 12-15 years ago, MOPAs built a huge nest near Easter Lake but disappeared when a blizzard hit.  One other sighting has been reported to IOU from Johnson Co. in 2009.  This species can adapt to climate change, so it's possible they eventually could be listed as an Iowa breeding bird sometime in future years.

If anyone wants to try observing the MOPAs, they may be found just south of I-235 and west of Hwy 28 (63rd Street) in Des Moines, near Windsor Heights Dog Park. You can drive to the south side of some storage units on Center Street and park there.  Then just listen & look at trees along the nearby Walnut Creek Trail and at the cell tower by the storage units.

Doug Harr

Ogden