Wild Parrot Nest Tests

A wild Quaker Parrot peers out of a nest built on an artificial platform in Boston.

The push to deploy artificial nest platforms for wild Quaker Parrots received new impetus over the weekend when an anonymous NJ resident agreed to house such platforms on his property. This development is important because utility companies such as Con Ed and PSE&G have long sought ways to lure the wild parrots away from their utility poles but neither they nor any research institutes have deployed any funds for such development or testing.


Plans for Marc Johnson's artificial nesting platforms.

Private volunteers, who work without pay or other support from officialdom, are filling this research and development gap. The platforms are cheap to make, and the only real cost is labor. The work is dangerous, and none of us have health insurance, so if we break our limbs while doing such work, our only recourse is "home surgery using hand tools." Still, we are willing to take the risk because we want to do our part for "the world's most persecuted parrot."

It is too early to say whether the planned installation will prove successful. The platforms have worked in the Boston area, but we may find it necessary to deploy several designs and fine-tune them to attract the parrots. This is an ongoing experiment and our findings will be published, in order that other pro-parrot groups can use them.