Parrots Retaking Poached Nests in Brooklyn?

A group of Quaker Parrots performing nest renovations in an undisclosed location in Brooklyn

If you regularly read this site, you know that there have been several poaching incidents in mid and South Brooklyn recently. An unknown but significant number of wild parrots have been captured, decimating the population in certain Brooklyn neighborhoods. The captured parrots are reportedly being held somewhere where their human captors are using them as breeders. The motivation for this poaching appears to be economic: although wild caught parrots have minimal value (because the law in NY forbids their sale), their babies can be sold into the pet trade for several hundred dollars each.

I was in mid and South Brooklyn last weekend, inspecting some of the poached nests for signs of activity. Most remain abandoned, but at least one of them has been re-occupied, as the photo above shows. Here, 5 wild parrots are seen busily renovating a poached nest.

I'm not sure if this is good or bad news: if the poachers come back, these parrots may suffer the same fate as the former occupants. If the neighborhood is able to deter the poachers, these parrots may well have found a stable home. I will be monitoring this development closely. To protect the parrots, the location of this nest must remain a closely-guarded secret.