Press Release: Maspeth Bird Haven Seeks Support for Parrot Rescue

Barry Schwartz (who participated in the Great Baby Quaker Parrot Rescue Operation last week in the Bronx), sent this press release out to 30 newspapers today. None of the volunteers in this project are being paid for their time, but these hungry little birds need to be fed and housed. If there's any way you can help, please do.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 19, 2007

MASPETH BIRD HAVEN SEEKS SUPPORT FOR PARROT RESCUE
Co-Founder Helps Save Quaker Parakeets in the Bronx

Maspeth, NY -Barry A. Schwartz, vice-president and co-founder of Maspeth Bird Haven, Inc. (MBH), a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit parrot rescue and adoption organization, assisted with the rescue of 43 Quaker Parakeet chicks and eggs, at a job-related project site in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx, on Thursday, June 7, 2007.

Mr. Schwartz, a geologist and project manager at the New York City Department of Design & Construction, along with several other co-workers, helped to remove the Quaker Parakeets at a City construction site. The chicks were then driven up to a rescue facility in Massachusetts, where they will be cared for. The Quakers were nesting some 40 feet above ground, in huge nests built on the service platforms on four of a baseball field’s light poles.

These parrots, whose origins are from southern South America, mainly Argentina, are natural nest-builders in the wild, and can be found in parts of Brooklyn, the Bronx, Connecticut, New Jersey, and even in Chicago, and are able to thrive in the more temperate and chilly climates. Although considered an invasive species (as are pigeons, starlings, and several other species of birds), Quakers Parakeets are harmless and have not been proven to pose a threat to any other species in the United States.

In New York City, colonies of Quaker Parakeets have been established since the late 1960’s, when they were still being imported, and before the ban on the import of parrots went into effect in 1992. Escaped Quakers formed the first established colonies in Brooklyn, and since then, Quakers that may have escaped from breeders and pet shops may have contributed to the establishment of other colonies in the metropolitan area.

The Throgs Neck Quakers’ nests needed to be removed for a light replacement project, and for the safety of electrical contractors working on the light poles, which illuminate a Little League ball field. The good news is that the adult Quakers have begun to rebuild their nests, and the chicks are doing well in the hands of the world-renowned rescue organization and sanctuary, Foster Parrots Ltd, of Rockland, MA.

The cost of caring for and feeding the baby Quakers, which ranged from a few days old to a few weeks old when they were pulled from the nests, is escalating, and on behalf of Foster Parrots Ltd., Maspeth Bird Haven, Inc. is seeking donations for the purchase of food and supplies, until the baby parrots do not have to be weaned anymore. Donations may be sent directly to Foster Parrots Ltd., P.O. Box 650, Rockland, MA 02370, and the sanctuary is a 501(c)(3) organization.

The whole story, along with photographs, can be seen at the web site www.brooklynparrots.com, hosted by Steve Baldwin.

Foster Parrots Ltd.’s website is at www.fosterparrots.com.

The public can find out further information about Maspeth Bird Haven, Inc. on the Internet at mysite.verizon.net/vzermrgu.