"Brooklyn Based" Blog Covers the Brooklyn "Boids"

Nicole Davis, editor of a nice Brooklyn-based Blog and E-Mail newsletter called BrooklynBased.net, interviewed me last week about Brooklyn's famed wild parrots. It's a nice article that sums up this project very well.

New Pro-Parrot Music Video: The Little Green Parrots From the Argentine

The somewhat musical outfit known as The Brooklyn Parrots has been making raucous noise in the past few weeks: their latest effort is called The Little Green Parrots From The Argentine and it's now online.



Lyrics: The Little Green Parrots From The Argentine
Copyright 2007 Steve Baldwin/The Brooklyn Parrots

Lots of people think the Quakers are a pain in the neck
And the Audubon Society wants to send them back
To Argentina, where they came from long ago
They're shaking and quaking all over the nation
But you know, I think it's so fine
We've got the little green parrots from the Argentine

Illuminating companies try to wipe them out
So the parrot-loving people got to scream and shout
And say you don't go taking our birds now, don't you know
You're a big bad corporation
But you know we're drawing the line
With the little green parrots from the Argentine (Let's Quake!)

News Notes: Pigeons to Blame for Minneapolis Bridge Collapse?

A report at ABCNews.com cites the possibility that pigeon dung (AKA "guano") may have been an important factor in the recent collapse of the I35W bridge in Minneapolis.

Why bring this up here? Well, because uninformed people may use this finding as another "fear factor" in denouncing Quaker Parrots who nest in steel infrastructure. In fact, however, Quaker Parakeet "dung" is chemically different from pigeon dung and does not share its corrosive properties. Just ask the folks who run Green-Wood Cemetery. After the Quaker Parrots replaced the pigeons nesting in the cemetery's main gates, corrosion to this historic brownstone structure was halted.

Meet BrooklynParrots.com in St. Louis!

Thanks to the generosity of the Quaker Parakeet Society, I will be appearing in St. Louis, MO this Saturday, August 25th, to present at the annual meeting of QPS, held in conjunction with The Gateway Parrot Club's Annual Hookbill Festival. My talk will be about our remarkable "illegal avians" and will include plenty of multimedia action, so if you're going to be there, I'd love to meet you and/or your parrot. More details are available at the Quaker Parakeet Society site.

Quaker Parrot Stamps Back in Stock!

I've been getting e-mails from folks who are disappointed that the Quaker Parrot Stamps provided by Cafe Press have been discontinued. To fix this sorry situation, I am now using Zazzle to make the stamps, and have created two: the first being the time-honored "Quaker Parrot Patriotic Stamp;" the second using the "I Love You" design featured on my most popular Quaker Parrot mug.

These stamps are honored by the U.S. Postal Service and are sure to be a big hit with your fellow Quaker Parrot fans. If you have any requests for other Quaker Parrot photo stamps, please send me e-mail.

Breaking News: Wild "Teenage" Parrots Invading Park Slope!

Dana Rubinstein of The Brooklyn Paper has written a good story on the wild Quaker Parrots which have recently been sighted in Park ASlope for the first time. My theory is that these birds are "teenage" parrots which likely came from Green-Wood Cemetery. Let's hope that the human residents of Park Slope take a shine to them!

PROBABLE ROUTE OF PARK SLOPE PARROTS


Aug 18th UPDATE: I walked the hypothetical route of the Park Slope Parrots on Saturday. Interestingly, there are at least three apple trees on this route. While I did not see any parrots eating these apples, a group of about 20 sparrows and starlings were feasting on fallen fruit. Wild Quaker Parrots love apples, the fruit is ripening on the trees, and this may explain the recent explosion of wild parrot sightings in Park Slope.

But questions remain. Are these parrots merely visiting Park Slope, or do they intend to command real estate there, perhaps in one of the neighborhood's many beautiful trees. Is this truly a wild parrot incursion or merely an apple-themed excursion? Stay tuned.

Brooklyn Parrots Survive Devastating Tornado!

Yesterday's Brooklyn Tornado devastated Bay Ridge's Leif Ericson Park, the home of a flock of wild Quaker Parrots.

A freak category EF2 tornado devastated parts of Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, yesterday. While no one was killed, the storm damage was extensive. Naturally, I wanted to see whether Bay Ridge's famous wild parrots survived the terrific storm, which boasted 135MPH winds.


This morning, I walked East past Leif Ericson's Park. The damage to trees was terrible, and I was very concerned that the parrot nests on the East side of the park might have been wrecked as well.


Some of the downed trees were 100 years old. Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe was quoted as saying the park "looked like it was the site of a World War II artillery battle."


Fortunately, the tornado veered off before reaching Leif Ericson Park's "dust bowl" ball field, where the parrots live.


I immediately heard parrot calls: here a bird lands on one of the communal nests.


The parrot nests appear to have survived the tornado with no damage. You can see why these parrots prefer steel pole nests to tree nests!


I counted about 18 parrots in the area. They appeared to be uninjured and were carrying on normally, foraging, squawking, and doing light nest renovations. The parrots had survived the tornado with nary a ruffled feather!