Photo-Essay: The Parrots of October

The weather, finally, has turned cold in Brooklyn, and the borough's wild parrots are adjusting their behavior accordingly. In this brief photo-essay, we take a look at what life is like for a wild green parrot in a world quickly turning grey and more inhospitable with every passing day. These photos were taken in mid-October, 2005 (click on any image to see an enlargement).


A green leaf might not seem to have much nutritive value compared to the berries that used to bloom in this Brooklyn neighborhood, but this parrot seems to be enjoying his spartan meal. How these parrots digest this stuff is anybody's guess.


Two parrots perch on a steel fence near Brooklyn College's Campus Drive. Unlike humans, wild parrots don't put their summer clothes away and don sweaters and long underwear in October. They simply puff up their feathers and keep them puffed up for months at a time. The parrot on the right looks almost pensive, as if remembering the lazy afternoons and easy pickings that have already grown scarce.


October winds often bring unwelcome surprises, in the form of parrot nests destroyed by the weather. I came across this downed nest one morning in Edgewater, New Jersey, and gingerly turned it over, expecting to find injured parrots or worse. Fortunately, the "Emergency Nest Evacuation" order seems to have been heeded in a timely manner: no hurt parrots were found.


Just about every animal in Brooklyn seems hungry in October. After tossing down some bird seed, parrots, squirrels, starlings, and sparrows quickly appeared and chomped through the meal in a matter of seconds.


Squirrels aren't the only urban fauna to love acorns: these Brooklyn Parrots know where the right trees are, and will often come to hunt for acorns when the coast is clear.


I'm not sure what these birds are eating here, but it's interesting enough to hold their attraction. Small ants, perhaps?


"RED ALERT: Jogger Approaching!" The birds sound a noisy "group alarm" and take off quickly, as a speeding human charges by in Reeboks, oblivous to their meal-gathering efforts.


October is the first month of real food scarcity that the Brooklyn Parrots have experienced in months, and tempers often flare. The birds at the bottom of this photo are arguing about something, and the dispute might well be meal-related. Of course, they could just be arguing for the sake of arguing: this is, after, all Brooklyn!