Wild Monk Parakeets in Delaware!
David
I had heard the rumors, and now I know it's true.
There's a thriving small community of wild Monk Parakeets around a
small lake in Rehoboth Beach, DE. By accounts, they have been there
for several years, although no one knows how they got there.
They are building nests (I'd never seen a parrot's nest!), and I saw
at least 10 of them.
I have never read about anything like this in BirdTalk, although, I
have heard that there are places in Florida where there are escaped
colonies of parrots living in the wild.
Still, it was really neat to see these green birds and hear their
raucous calls as they flew from tree to tree.
David
eliza...@earthlink.net
Da...@ix.netcom.com (David) wrote:
>David
Here in the San Fernando Valley north of LA we have huge flocks of
Amazons which I have seen and (I hear) some Macaws although I have not
seen any myself. They escaped from Busch Gardens when they closed it
down and have done nicely on the fruit and nut trees. When I first saw
them I thought it was a large flock of ducks since in flight they
rather sound like that, but when they all landed in the nut tree in my
neighbours garden I was able to see they were Amazons. It is illegal
to catch - or try to catch any. Even though we have several million
people here they seem to be doing just fine.
Liz
Geordie Korper
In article <5021nf$c...@newsbf02.news.aol.com>, rak...@aol.com (RAKLAW) wrote:
:I read an article a few months ago in Bird Talk or some magazine (might
:have been a wild bird magazine) about a colony of monk parakeets that have
:lived for some years in a park in the heart of Chicago. Apparently, they
:can tough it out during the winter months. They seem to be very adaptable
:and resilient, but I suspect the ease with which they go feral is the
:reason they are banned in some localities.
:
:Ron Kershaw
They have spread from the park into several other areas. There is one huge
nest in an alley on a telehone pole that I find particilarly amazing. It
must be 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide. Actually down that one alley they
have nested on several telephone poles and a couple of trees.
Interestingly in the park the parrots only nest in one big tree, even
though there are many trees in the park. I think that the parrots in the
alley have decided that the entire alley is their colony tree.
--
Geordie Korper geo...@chapman.com
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* The text above should in no way be construed to represent the *
* opinions of my employer, even if specifically stated to do so. *
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RAKLAW
Shannon Larkin
David wrote:
>
> I had heard the rumors, and now I know it's true.
>
> There's a thriving small community of wild Monk Parakeets around a
> small lake in Rehoboth Beach, DE. By accounts, they have been there
> for several years, although no one knows how they got there.
A friend of mine in Chicago delights in the colony of Monk parakeets
that have set up shop immediatly behind her apartment building. They're
loud, says she, but there's nothing like a parrot's cry in the dead of
winter to make you think "tropics!". She says they also add a nice
touch of color when the leaves are down.
These birds are amazingly hardy!
-Shannon
Mairabet
Dear Monk Parakeet Watchers: I have been following this thread for
some time now and wondering exactly what a Monk Parakeet looks like,
what size, colors, etc. Thank you for any enlightenment you can give
me as I cannot find pictures in any book or even on the net).
Debbie Hauselt
Monk parakeets are more commonly known as Quakers.
Mairabet (star...@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: Dear Monk Parakeet Watchers: I have been following this thread for
: some time now and wondering exactly what a Monk Parakeet looks like,
: what size, colors, etc. Thank you for any enlightenment you can give
: me as I cannot find pictures in any book or even on the net).
--
______________________________________________________________________________
Debbie My wants are many....My needs are few.
a010570t@bcfreenet
aka Softail
ker...@csl.uiuc.edu
> Dear Monk Parakeet Watchers: I have been following this thread for
> some time now and wondering exactly what a Monk Parakeet looks like,
> what size, colors, etc. Thank you for any enlightenment you can give
> me as I cannot find pictures in any book or even on the net).
"Monk Parakeet" is another name for "Quaker Parakeet", Myiopsitta
monachus. There are 4 subspecies: monachus, calita, cotorra, and
luchsi. I have never seen anybody in the pet trade refer to the
subspecies of their birds, so I wouldn't be surprised if many of
the captive bred birds are hybrids of different subspecies.
The Quaker is 29cm long, with the standard parakeet physique. It
is predominantly green, with a light grey face and chest. A red
band runs across its belly. I have seen pictures of it fluffing
up its grey throat feathers, so it looked like an old Quaker's
mustacheless beard. This is where it gets the name from.
The most distinctive feature of the Quaker is that it makes a
nest out of twigs, unlike other parrots. (Peach faced lovebirds
steal such nests from weavers, but don't actually build them.)
The nests are spherical, and there may be several adjacent to
each other.
The Quaker's main claim to fame is that it can survive outside in
the snow. Feral populations exist in several northern states.
Ian Kerfoot
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Chase Kimball
In article <509d4s$a...@dfw-ixnews10.ix.netcom.com>, star...@ix.netcom.com
says...
>
>Dear Monk Parakeet Watchers: I have been following this thread for
>some time now and wondering exactly what a Monk Parakeet looks like,
>what size, colors, etc. Thank you for any enlightenment you can give
>me as I cannot find pictures in any book or even on the net).
Monk Parakeets are also called Quakers Parrakeets. Go to my website
(address below) and follow the Quaker Parrot link on my parrot page to see a
picture.
--
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+Chase Kimball (ch...@aros.net), nom de plum "Lord Brancaster" +
+ +
+My heart in hiding stirred for a bird, the achieve of, the mastery+
+of the thing! "The Windhover" Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J. +
+ +
+Visit my home page at http://www.aros.net/~chase to view the +
+virtual gallery of fantasy art of Jesse Allen, and the home site +
+of the Wasatch Avian Education Society. +
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Ian Kerfoot
I claimed there is a red band running across the
belly of Quaker parakeets. The painting of them
in Forshaw's "Parrots of the World" has the red
band, although the written description makes no
reference to it. I have been informed that Quaker
parakeets do not actually have a red band on their
chest. Is there anyone out there who has seen a
Quaker with a red band on the chest? Maybe the
artist just made a mistake when painting them.
Ian Kerfoot
ellen beth kessler
In <8415244...@dejanews.com> ker...@csl.uiuc.edu writes:
>
>> Dear Monk Parakeet Watchers: I have been following this thread for
>> some time now and wondering exactly what a Monk Parakeet looks like,
>> what size, colors, etc. Thank you for any enlightenment you can
give
>> me as I cannot find pictures in any book or even on the net).
>
>"Monk Parakeet" is another name for "Quaker Parakeet", Myiopsitta
>monachus. There are 4 subspecies: monachus, calita, cotorra, and
>luchsi. I have never seen anybody in the pet trade refer to the
>subspecies of their birds, so I wouldn't be surprised if many of
>the captive bred birds are hybrids of different subspecies.
>
>The Quaker is 29cm long, with the standard parakeet physique. It
>is predominantly green, with a light grey face and chest. A red
>band runs across its belly. I have seen pictures of it fluffing
>up its grey throat feathers, so it looked like an old Quaker's
>mustacheless beard. This is where it gets the name from.
>
>The most distinctive feature of the Quaker is that it makes a
>nest out of twigs, unlike other parrots. (Peach faced lovebirds
>steal such nests from weavers, but don't actually build them.)
>The nests are spherical, and there may be several adjacent to
>each other.
>
>The Quaker's main claim to fame is that it can survive outside in
>the snow. Feral populations exist in several northern states.
>
> Ian Kerfoot
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>This article was posted to Usenet via the Posting Service at Deja
News:
> http://www.dejanews.com/ [Search, Post, and Read Usenet
News!]
Ian, I think the book you're quoting from is incorrect in describing
the monk (quaker) parakeet. I have never seen a quaker with a red band
across its chest. What book are you quoting from?
Ellen
ellen beth kessler
In <50f1rl$4...@uicsl.csl.uiuc.edu> Ian Kerfoot <ker...@csl.uiuc.edu>
writes:
the red-banded quakers. Sigh. Another book that can't be trusted.
Ellen
AmazonHect
Hi
I had one years ago they are also called Quakers.Mine did aquire speech
and he was a real sweetheart.I got mine as a baby and had the best time
with him and when I think of him today I realize how much I learned from
him I now have a yellow naped amazon who stole my heart.I am sure there
must be a place on the web you can find a picture and also a good book or
bird mags.
Sha
====================
| Where Birds are King! |
====================
Leora Goldman
that is most likely from Parrots Of The World by J Forshaw. It is the
only book I have ever seen refer to the Quaker(Monk) with a red breast
and even show a painting of it that way. Maybe some rare subspecies
looked like that but I have never heard of it anywhere but in that book.
Normally, the normal greens have a slightly barred pale greyish/green
chest. Leora
--
-- peace
Valeen Haslam
You can see a picture of a Quaker Parakeet on my web page. Actually I
have two there.
There is also a new book out on Quakers if you want details e-mail me and
I will direct you to the person who can get that for you!
Valeen
val...@axxis.com
http://www.axxis.com/~valhas/index.htm
Tom & Debbie
>I am sure there
>must be a place on the web you can find a picture and also a good book or
>bird mags.
Try out the Rare Quaker Home Page. I don't have the address, but I do
have a link to it on my links page, which is at:
http://www.exoticpets.com/exoticpets/birds.html
He's got some very nice pictures there, including blues, lutinos, pieds, &
cinnamons.
There are also a couple of others that I've linked to, but at the
moment can't remember the titles of the pages.