Breaking News: Wild Parrots on Manhattan's Upper West Side Delighting Local Birders

Myiopsitta Monachus, the world's most persecuted parrot, is seeking to make a home for itself on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Rumors of the parrot's reappearance in Manhattan have been circulating for months (the last known nesting pair was wiped out by the attacks of 9/11/2001). During the summer of 2006, mysterious blue-green shapes were seen darting around the 79th Street Boat Basin. During the late fall, a volunteer at Riverside Park reported unusual "parrot-like" sounds in the trees. Last week, a nest at 103rd Street and Amsterdam was discovered by birder Rebekah Creshkoff and the news was posted on MarieWinn.com, a prominent Manhattan bird blog. Last Saturday, more photos were posted by BrooklynParrots.com. This weekend, noted birder Donna Browne got some spectacular close-ups of the 103rd Street Quakers, and Deborah Alperin, a Quaker Parrot partisan, reported that at least one wild parrot was seen in the middle of Broadway, just across the street from Zabar's (it is a well documented fact that these parrots have a weakness for bagels) as well as pizza.

Where did these parrots come from? Did they fly all the way from Brooklyn? Did they cross the river from New Jersey? Or did they somehow manage to escape from captivity (Quakers are raised in quantity in certain areas of Manhattan, expecially in Washington Heights)? The last possibility cannot be ruled out: Donna Browne's photos show what appears to be one bird wearing a leg band.

I'll be following this story with great interest, but fear not, fellow Brooklynites: my main focus will continue to be "the boids of Brooklyn." We've got lots of new photo-essays and stories in the works: there was a whole lot of action last weekend in the Borough of Kings and much news to report about the bizarre antics of our wild psitticine denizens.