Protecting the Parrots of New Jersey

I'm an unlikely animal activist. I've kept pet parrots for years, at least when I could stay in a place that allowed them. I've watched birds -- mostly the industrious sparrows and noisy starlings that seem to live everywhere in Manhattan. But it was only back in December, during the great Hawk Nest Crisis of 2004, that I actually took to the barricades to right a wrong: the decision by the co-op board of 927 5th Avenue to evict Pale Male and Lola, the famous red-tailed hawks, from their airy nest above Central Park.

For two long weeks, I joined with a strange species of human beings I now call "Bird People" to chant, scream, yell and taunt the billionaires who'd evicted the hawks. First I lost my voice, then I got the flu, and then (for reasons unrelated to Pale Male), I was evicted from my own nest in Yonkers, but it didn't matter. The powers that be caved in, the nest was rebuilt, and the hawks came back (see www.palemale.com for the latest updates). Now it's rare that a weekend goes by without a trip to the Miniature Boat Pond in Central Park to watch these magnificant hawks go about their business.

It was a great victory. But I soon discovered that it was not enough to simply cheer the Pale Male victory, pat ourselves on the back, and enjoy the Spring. There were other nest-related struggles going on in the New York area, but because they didn't involve celebrity animals like Pale Male, they occured far below the media's radar screen.

One week in early March, 2005, I found my next struggle - one that has been going on for years in Brooklyn, Connecticut, and New Jersey - the continuing confrontation between Quaker Parrots, sturdy little escapees from Argentina who now flock merrily around Brooklyn, Edgewater, New Jersey, and the coast of Connecticut, and the power companies who must, from time to time, remove their tremendous nests from power lines, power stations, and poles to prevent power losses, brownouts, and hazards to line workers.

Now I'm hardly a die-hard animal rights zealot who believes that power authorities don't have a right and responsibility to remove these nests when they threaten to cause power interruptions. But I was shocked to learn how different each state treats the birds recovered by the power companies. In New York and in Connecticut, for example, young birds and unhatched eggs are taken to bird adopters and given refuge at parrot sanctuaries.

In New Jersey, however, because of the existence of some antiquated rules on the books, Quaker Parrots are regarded as "dangerous species," along with alligators, crocodiles, and vipers! Their classification is almost certainly a result of the mistaken impression about Quaker Parrots that they crowd out indigenous species, ransack crops, and if uncontrolled, will become ubiquitous. None of these allegations against this friendly bird are true; the worst thing that one can say about Quaker Parrots is that they're noisy (check out the sound sample I recorded last week), build big nests on power distribution lines, and don't pay taxes.

Still, in New Jersey, the fact that these birds are legally considered dangerous pests has some very unfortunate ramifications. The law basically permits, but does not require, the killing of the birds, even though there are plenty of bird adopters and bird lovers who want to help the birds. Fortunately, no birds have been euthanized recently, but the danger is clear, because they don't have any rights.

Of late, I've been working closely with a wonderful person in Edgewater, Alison Evans-Fragale, who runs EdgewaterParrots.com. Alison is working tirelessly with state officials, private businesses, and elected leaders to try to work out a way to change the way things are done in Edgewater. I encourage you to visit Alison's site and support her noble efforts to save the Edgewater Parrots by signing her online petition.