Monk Parakeet Science Marches On!

ScienceBlogs has posted an informative article on the DNA composition of the Northeast U.S.A.'s wild monk parakeets (AKA Quaker Parrots). There are four subspecies of monks which range across South America. Only one subspecies (called monachus01), which hale originally from Argentina and Uraguay, dominate in the Northeast, although a distinct subspecies (monachus02) has been sampled in Edgewater, New Jersey.This suggests that the original birds whose descendants live throughout the Northeast were supplied by a limited set of exotic bird traffickers. For more on the origin of these remarkable creatures, read What Are Wild Parrots Doing in Brooklyn?