Next Brooklyn Wild Parrot Safari: Saturday, April 3, 2010

What are wild parrots doing in Brooklyn? It's a long story!

Attention all Urban Parrot fans: the next Wild Brooklyn Parrot Safari will happen on Saturday, April 3, 2010, at 11 AM. Please gather at Brooklyn College's Hillel Gate, which is at the intersection of Hillel Place and Campus Road. (Note: there will be no inspection of the Green-Wood Cemetery parrots on this safari; I have to run off to do something later on Saturday afternoon. Soon I'll bring back the Green-Wood "second section" of the trip but it's impossible this month).

Please e-mail me if you want to attend. Note: there is no rain date for this trip. I ordinarily do not cancel the tour unless the forecast is for sustained inclement weather in which birds will not fly.

Wild Parrot Safari (Brooklyn College): 11:00 AM to 12:30PM
At 11 AM, we'll inspect the Brooklyn Parrots' "Ellis Island." Their large nests around the soccer field represents the first major colony in Brooklyn. The site is easy to get to via public transportation. Just take the Number 2 train (Seventh Avenue IRT) to the end of the line, walk one block Southwest on Hillel Street past the new Starbucks, and look for the main Brooklyn College date. The tour begins at the entrance at 11:00 AM sharp. Allow some extra time, given that the MTA is doing lots of construction/train re-routing on weekends. Driving instructions are available at Brooklyn College's main Web site. Parking is fairly easy to come by in the neighborhood. If you're late, please call me: I'll give you directions so that you can meet up with us if the tour is already in progress.

What to Bring/What to Wear
Please bring a photo ID (this is required by Brooklyn College Security). Bring binoculars and a camera. We'll be exposed to outdoors so bring a hat/sunscreen if you have sensitive skin. Please feel free to wear anything except bright orange. For reasons that science has not yet explained, Monk Parrots freak out when you show them something orange.

This Tour is Free, But the Parrots Are Hungry!
The Wild Parrot Safari is free - if you wish to help your hungry urban feathered friends, bring some good bird feed and other treats. Finch food or millet are always welcomed by our hungry urban "peeps."

See you in wild, exotic Brooklyn!

Steve Baldwin, Webmaster, BrooklynParrots.com
steve@brooklynparrots.com

WCBS-TV Covers Wild Parrots of Brooklyn

Wild Parrots at Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery. Photo by Stephen Carl Baldwin.

I got a call a few weeks back from Stephanie Cassell, a WCBS-TV producer I've worked with before. I went out to Green-Wood Cemetery and met Stephanie, a nice cameraman, and reporter Tony Tantillo. We were lucky that it was a nice day and the parrots were out in force: here's the resulting story which ran on WCBS-TV's web site on Thursday. You can watch a video from this page that shows you the complete sequence that ran over the air: I think that WCBS did a great job with this piece.
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Green-Wood Monk Parakeets Rebuilding Nest Empire

I am happy to say that the wild parrots at Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery are rebuilding. The scaffolding over the main gate was removed several weeks ago, and although the parrots are several thousand twigs away from restoring their once extensive nest complexes, early work is underway and several new brand new parrot-constructed chambers should be ready by the onset of the breeding season, which begins in April.

This Flickr slide show shows the parrots feeding on leaf buds, foraging, and beginning reconstruction. It also features some folks from WCBS-TV, who came out today to work on a segment on the parrots. All photos by Stephen Carl Baldwin.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Photo-Essay: Green-Wood Parrots Begin Massive Reconstruction Project

Last week, only a few twigs had been placed by the parrots in the recently de-nested southern spire of Green-Wood Cemetery's historic entrance gate, but work continues at a frenetic pace.

Brooklyn's Master Architects of the Bird World, the wild Quaker Parrots (AKA Monk Parakeets) of Green-Wood Cemetery, appear to have taken the recent removal of their massive multifamily condominium-style nest structure in stride and are now actively rebuilding. Such removals happen every 10 years at Green-Wood Cemetery, where the parrots have lived since the early 1960s, when the historic gate structures need to be inspected and/or repaired.

On Saturday, April 18, I inspected the parrots' efforts to rebuild their housing on Green-Wood Cemetery's main gate. The parrots appear to be working South to North, with significant progress shown on a nest on the southernmost spire. Here are some photos illustrating the parrots' progress. All photos by yours truly, Steve Baldwin; just click on any photo for an expanded view.


The parrots have been busy all week, and a small nest is beginning to take shape (just to the left in this photo).


Already, this nest consists of hundreds of twigs carefully placed into position by the parrots. These will be systematically clipped and shaped until a proper entrance portal can be fashioned.


Doing this takes hundreds of parrot-hours of heavy air-lifting.


Fortunately, there's plenty of tasty grass for these grass-eaters to consume within just a few feet of the construction site.



There's plenty of action at the central spire, formerly the site of the biggest parrot nest in Brooklyn.


These parrots appear to be part of a surveying team examining the functional specifications for an adequate nest sub-structure at Green-Wood's main gate.


A parrot arrives at the main gate with a tremendous twig that will likely be laid in as part of the new nest's foundational substructure.


These parrots appear to be enjoying the fact that at least part of their lost nest is now in place again.


If all goes well, the angels of Green-Wood Cemetery will soon greet a fully-functioning condomium-style Monk Parakeet nest before Spring turns to Summer.

BREAKING NEWS: Wild Parrot Nest Removals at Green-Wood Cemetery

One of two artificial nest platforms erected at Green-Wood Cemetery for use by Monk Parakeets during renovation of main gate structure.

Last week, a long-planned project to inspect and renovate the main gate at Green-Wood Cemetery began. Part of the work requires the partial or complete removal of the massive colonial nests built by the Monk Parakeets (AKA Quaker Parrots) who have lived there for years. Fortunately, the project engineers consulted with various Quaker Parrot experts, who advised them to do their work before the Quakers' breeding season began. Failing to do this can result in the inhumane situation of removing young birds from their parents' care when they most need it, plus the need to take care of these young parrots, whose lifespans can exceed 30 years. This happened at Throgs Neck in 2007, and may happen within weeks in Bay Ridge unless the project managers can somehow be persuaded to delay their planned work (which will happen in June) to a time after the parrots finish breeding.

It is always painful to watch such nest removals and their aftermath. Several attendees of the April 2009 Wild Brooklyn Parrot Safari grimaced while watching the birds frantically rebuild their nests while knowing their efforts were in vain. At the same time, it is actually good that these removals happened when they did. Although the parrots' breeding season was interrupted, they'll likely simply delay having young until they can rebuild their nests.

Additionally, it was truly inspiring to see the efforts of Green-Wood Cemetery's management to minimize the suffering of the parrots. Two large steel artificial nest platforms were deployed to provide temporary shelter for the parrots during the renovation project. Using best practices for wild parrot nest removals proves that Green-Wood Cemetery truly values its wild parrots, and wants them to be there for future generations to enjoy.



You can clearly see the area cleared by the renovation workers at the center of the photo (below the perching parrots). First an inspection will take place to assess any damage to the stone (there doesn't look like any in this photo), followed by necessary renovation work.


Two steel artificial nest platform towers on each side of the main gate have been constructed to provide temporary housing for the parrots while work on the main gate proceeds.


Sticks were placed in the North nest platform to coax the parrots into visiting them and using them for temporary housing. Several parrots were observed "checking out" the platforms on Saturday, April 4, 2009.


The platform design uses gridwork to provide an anchor for Monk Parakeet stick nests. There are no twigs placed on the South platform: it will be interesting to see whether the Monks build on it, or whether they just use it for perching (as might other interesting avians).



While the nest removals represent a hardship for Green-Wood's wild parrots, extraordinary care was taken to minimize the suffering. Hopefully, within a month or so, life will return to normal at Green-Wood's historic main gate, where the parrots have roosted for many years.

Slide Show: Wild Parrots at Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery

High-resolution photos of the wild Quaker Parrots of Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery (several were used in our 2009 Wild Parrots of Brooklyn wall calendar). Note: if the slide show for some reason doesn't display correctly, please browse the Flickr Set by clicking here. All photos by Stephen Carl Baldwin.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

About Those Park Slope Parrots...

An article (with a nice photograph) appeared on BrownStoner.com today showing a group of wild Quaker Parrots (AKA Monk Parakeets or "Brooklyn Parrots") gathered in a tree in Park Slope. The subject also appeared in one of Brownstoner.com's forum areas.

Just to be clear: the parrots that are appearing in Park Slope appear to be visitors from Sunset Park: their main nest compound is located in Green-Wood Cemetery but like many Brooklynites, they like to get around, and Park Slope is a great place to visit, given its many beautiful trees (wild parrots like to munch on leafbuds this time of year and throughout the winter). This has been going on for some time (see "Teenage Parrots Invading Park Slope?" for more information).

For more on the "Sunset Park/Park Slope Parrots," see items related to the Green-Wood Cemetery Parrots.

Photo-Essay: New Wild Baby Quaker Parrots in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery

Wild-born baby Quaker (left) begs for food from mother at Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery. All photos by Steve Baldwin.

People sometimes ask me what's the best season of the year to watch wild Quaker Parrots in the Northeast U.S.A. In some respects, Fall and Winter are better for seeing the parrots, because they form larger flocks, and because they're easier to see and photograph when the trees are bereft of leaves.

But if you want to see young baby Quakers flying, playing, and feeding for the first time, however, there's no better time than Summer. Right now, these fresh youngsters are shaking, quaking, and begging their parents to satisfy their appetites, and they're also beginning to learn the Quaker's main trade (nest-building) and how to forage for food.

Last week, I posted a brief photo-essay on the baby Quakers in Green-Wood Cemetery. Here's a follow-up with some new photos intended to welcome 2008's new additions to the wild Quaker Parrot flock.


Baby Quakers will keep "quaking" for food until they've been trained to gather food for themselves.


Here, Mom (on right) is teaching baby to eat grass, which is the main diet for wild Quaker Parrots.


Mother bird (center) is kept very busy these days allo-feeding her young (this Mom has two to take care of).


Another shot of Mom Quaker with her two hungry youngsters.


Across the river in Edgewater, NJ, baby Quakers are busy learning how to eat pizza.


Baby Quakers look almost exactly like their full-grown parents when they emerge from the nests. You can spot them by their distinctive begging behavior, slightly different beak shape, and the fact that they look slightly "fresher" than grown-up birds.

New Photo-Essay: Wild Baby Quaker Parrots at Green-Wood Cemetery 2008

A wild baby Quaker Parrot at Green-Wood Cemetery, August 3, 2008

Each July and August, wild parrot watchers in the Northeast U.S.A. delight in the emergence of the latest and greatest crop of wild baby Quaker Parrots. At Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery, these youngsters are easily seen in the grove of trees leading up to the main gate. The babies are inseparable from their parents, upon whom they depend for sustenance delivered through allofeeding (beak-to-beak feeding).

This past Sunday, I photographed some of these newcomers. They are just as cute as those seen in prior years.


How do you spot a baby Quaker Parrot in the wild? Well, the shape of their beak is different, they're just a bit "fresher looking," and their characteristic begging behavior gives them away. Here's one in a tree awaiting Mom's return.


Here, you can compare Mom (on the right) with her hungry youngster. Note the differing beak shapes. Baby Quaker parrots sound very different as well; their calling is far less assertive than their elders.


This busy Mom (center) is allofeeding two hungry babies today!


Another shot of Mom with kids.


Baby Quakers closely shadow their parents. Here, three adult Quakers are digging a hole in a road; the purpose of this project appears to be to consume the soil beneath, which is thought to act as a digestive aid. The baby is second from left. This baby will maintain very close contact with his parents for at least a year and possibly longer.

Memorial Day 2008, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn

Wild Quaker Parrot rises above markers for American Civil War Dead, Green-Wood Cemetery, Brooklyn, May 25, 2008, by Steve Baldwin

Photo-Essay: Wild Parrots Feast and Fight in Brooklyn

Springtime in Brooklyn means lots of tasty leaf buds begin to blossom, attracting flocks of wild Quaker Parrots. At beautiful Green-Wood Cemetery, one of the best places to check out some serious feral parrot action is in some of its soaring chestnut trees. (Click on any photo for an enlarged view; also please check out my other Photo-Essays on the wild parrots).


This Horse Chestnut Tree (Aesculus Hippocastanum), native to Greece and Albania, stands just a few yards from where the wild Quaker Parrots (native to Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Brazil) have built their huge nest complex.


These wild Quaker Parrots are just getting ready to devour one of their favorite treats: wild Horse Chestnut blossoms.


Do horse chestnut blossoms have some mysterious aphrodisiac quality useful to the Quaker Parrots' pre-mating season rituals? Or are they just delightfully delicious?


Either way, these hungry parrots don't waste any time digging in.


Elsewhere in the Cemetery, there's a lot of arguing going on, and it's par for the course whenever you find wild Quakers undergoing their annual pre-mating season madness.


"Ouch - hey buddy, I wasn't looking at your gal the wrong way, was I?"


The parrots' rambunctious behavior occasionally interrupts their feeding.


But most birds simply enjoy the feast, and leave the noisy physical contact to the teenagers.

Wild Parrots Invade Red Hook; Some Residents Denounce Nests as "Unsightly"

Brooklyn's excellent "Gowanas Lounge" blog reports on the stir caused by wild parrots in Red Hook. The Red Hook colony is one of Brooklyn's less explored wild parrot colonies (because it's difficult to get to via public transportation, as are many interesting spots in Red Hook). Scientists believe that this wild parrot colony was formed several years ago by a "breakaway" group from nearby Green-Wood Cemetery.

Some property-minded residents of Red Hook are evidently complaining about the shape and general condition of the parrots' nests, characterizing the construction as "slovenly." I would advise these residents to simply give the parrots time to complete the core construction tasks (after which they will certainly focus on finishing and general "beauty work." Quaker Parrots are hard-working perfectionists who will not give up until every twig is trimmed carefully to present an aesthetically attractive exterior. After all, these parrots are considered to be "the master architects of the bird world."

Wild Quaker Parrots Under the Mistletoe

Happy Holidays, all! May we all be as contented as the Quaker Parrots in this video this season, who don't let the cold December winds dampen their affectionate spirits.

"Holiday Hassle" - Starring the Wild Parrots of Brooklyn!

I've seen some amazing battles in the past few weeks between the wild parrots of Brooklyn and the deadly avian predators patrolling New York's skies. Here's a quick 90-second video that captures one of these encounters and also functions as a holiday greeting card. Enjoy!

December 2007 Brooklyn Wild Parrot Safari Captured in Fabulous Photo-Essay!

Photo Credit: Bonnie of Frogma

December's Brooklyn Wild Parrot Safari was one of our most exciting yet, and Bonnie, who runs a wonderful Blog called Frogma, (Being the Continuing Adventures of a Woman and her Trusty Kayak in New York Harbor, the Hudson River, and Beyond) created a fantastic annotated photo-essay showing the Wild Parrot Safari highlights, which included a "Battle of Britain"-style aerial dogfight between the intrepid Brooklyn Parrots (cast in the R.A.F. Spitfire role) and a deadly mystery predator that we're still trying to identify. Thanks, Bonnie!

Our next Wild Parrot Safari in Brooklyn will be on Saturday, January 5th. Be there or be square!

Wild Quaker Parrot Video: Hawk Attack in Brooklyn!

My latest video depicts a very tense incident in which a Red-Tailed Hawk attacked a group of wild Quaker Parrots while they were feeding in Brooklyn's Sunset Park.

The hawk attacked silently and swiftly but I'm glad to say that all of the parrots got away, thanks to their famed Sentinel Alert System.

For more on the wild Quaker Parrots' continual battle against urban predators, see:

Photo-Essay: Hawk Attack in Brooklyn(August 18, 2006) and
Photo-Essay: Marauding Falcon Nearly Ruins Brooklyn Parrots' Labor Day Celebration (Sept 4, 2007). You can watch more Wild Quaker Parrot Videos by going to our video page.

Marching Monk Parrots of Brooklyn Support Marching Monks of Burma

Monk Parrots Marching Peacefully at Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery

BrooklynParrots.com has been following the dramatic story of the marching monks in Burma, and hopes that these demonstrations remain peaceful. At least 100,000 people have expressed their solidarity with the monks, and the wild monk parrots of Brooklyn are with them in spirit. For more on the marching monks of Brooklyn, see Photo-Essay: March of the Monk Parrots!

Photo-Essay: Marauding Falcon Nearly Ruins Brooklyn Parrots' Labor Day Celebration

A Peregrine Falcon in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery does his best to terrorize the local parrots. All photos and text by Steve Baldwin.

I know there are many fine people in New York City who admire raptors, but from a wild Quaker Parrot perspective they're a total nightmare. Raptors such as Red-Tailed Hawks and Peregrine Falcons prey on the parrots, and the parrots have to use every tool in their arsenal, including their patented Sentinel Early Warning System (SEWS) to stay one step ahead of these fearsome flesh-eaters. In this photo-essay, shot on Labor Day, 2007, BrooklynParrots.com takes a close look at how a Peregrine Falcon nearly ruined the Brooklyn Parrots' annual Labor Day parade held in Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery.

Photo-Essay: Marauding Falcon Nearly Ruins Brooklyn Parrots' Labor Day Celebration
(Click on any photo for an enlarged view.)

At precisely seven A.M. on Monday, September 3rd, 2007, the Brooklyn Parrots' Green-Wood Cemetery division begins their annual Labor Day celebration. As is the custom, an aerobatics display is conducted in which four parrots from the famed "Green Angel" squadron fly tight loops around Green-Wood Cemetery's historic gate.


Security always being a concern at any Quaker Parrot celebration, sharp-eyed sentries are strategically posted on the Gothic spires and in trees overlooking the parade and picnic grounds.


After a few minutes of inspiring speeches celebrating the Quaker Parrots' hard-working habits (they are among the hardest working animals in Brooklyn), a tasty breakfast consisting of Sugar Maple fruit is served to the merry-makers.


This seasonal delicacy is second only to pine cones on the wild Quaker Parrot menu.


After breakfast, several parrots use the opportunity provided by the day's enhanced security to pay their respects to the Forgotten Civil War Veterans of Green-Wood Cemetery.


At 7:55 AM, although the Labor Day celebration has barely begun, an unexpectedly urgent call from a sentry calls the birds back to their airy fortress. Something is afoot - but what?


The Quakers assemble in and around their nests, each watching something invisible to the human eye that is fast approaching from the East.


Suddenly, a strident ACK! ACK! ACK! ACK! ACK!, the Quaker Parrot equivalent of "Mayday, Mayday!" sounds throughout the cemetery. Escaping parrots fly out of nest portals like feathery projectiles shot from a catapult.


At last, the predator shows his face: a large Peregrine Falcon heading straight for the parrot nests!


The predator dives directly at the nests (he may even have crashed into them).


But the parrots have already taken to the air seconds before the Falcon's arrival, gaining altitude above the predator while shrieking wildly to maintain flock cohesion. Soon they land on the branches of a tall pine tree about 100 yards from the nest complex.


But the Falcon will not give up, and dives at the tree where the parrots have taken shelter. He is clearly savoring a little green meal!


The parrots split left and right, a half-second before the raptor arrives.


The parrots rise again, screaming. Within minutes, they head off in the general direction of Park Slope, a neighborhood just to the north providing protective cover against the raptor's assault. It will be several hours before they return.


Only in the late afternoon do the parrots feel safe enough to continue their Labor Day parade.


The Falcon's attack was an unwelcome event, but it does succeed in cementing a sense of solidarity between Brooklyn's Parrots and the local pigeons who are also preyed upon by Brooklyn's merciless raptors. As one parrot noted, "we're all birds of prey here and despite our obvious differences should be working together to defeat the raptor class once and for all!"