Squawking At the Moon: The Wild Parrots of Bay Ridge (Revisited)

I visited the wild monk parrots of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, in the summer of 2005 but was never satisfied with the photos I took. My trusty film camera was showing its age and the parrots were elusive, so I charged back in early January, 2006, with digital camera in hand. The parrots were out in force, and I got some credible pix. I plan to keep close tabs on this fabulous flock, which is lucky to live in one of Brooklyn's most interesting neighborhoods. (Click on any picture for an enlarged view).


The Bay Ridge Parrots are an industrious bunch who work tirelessly through the day to upgrade their dwellings.


The parrots nests are in large stadium light fixtures positioned around the athletic field known as "The Dust Bowl." It's uncanny how much this scene resembles that in Brooklyn College and in the Bronx. The high stadium light poles, built of Corten steel, provide an unbeatable substructure for expansive nests that can house up to 12 parrots in each fixture.


Trees around the field provide a convenient supply of nest materials. Let's examine this intrepid Brooklynite as she begins work on a formidable looking twig.


Good work, kid: you're nearly there!


With a snap the twig is turned into raw material for a wild parrot condominium.


Now it's time to make like a hummingbird and airlift that fresh-cut lumber to the construction site.


The trees don't just provide construction material for nests. This one is packed with calorie-packed leaf buds, which the parrots depend upon to survive and thrive through the chilly abyss of a New York winter.


I imagine this pensive Bay Ridge parrot might be speculating that the same moon above him is beaming down on his long-lost relatives in the pampas of Argentina.

He's so far from home, in such a strange jungle of stone, yet I'd like to think he's glad to be living in Brooklyn, because there's likely a future for his hardy band of immigrant avians here.