The New Yorker Mentions the Parrots (But Gets its Facts Wrong)

It's odd that The New Yorker, a venerable magazine which prides itself on its fact-checking, would contain a misleading passage about the wild parrots of New York in its March 19th issue. The mention occurs within the context of a fictional story by Jonathan Lethem called "Lucky Alan," which mentions parrots roosting on East 78th Street and York Avenue in Manhattan.

I happen to know that several wild parrot enthusiasts, after reading Lethem's story, proceeded to this location, expecting to see roosting parrots, and were sorely disappointed. Sorry, folks: the only non-imaginary, non-fictional parrots in Manhattan live on the Upper WEST Side. So don't waste time on 78th and York, even if The New Yorker's fiction department leaves you with the impression that there are parrots there!

Update on the Manhattan Monk Parrots

Manhattan birder D. Bruce Yolton, who runs Urban Hawks, a great urban bird site, has posted some excellent photos of the Manhattan Monks taken this week. There are four of them living "in the block bounded by 77th, 78th, Amsterdam and Columbus." Add the two on 104th Street and the Manhattan Monk count adds up to six parrots.

The fact that there are more than two monk parrots on the Upper West Side favors the chance that these parrots might survive in the Big Apple. According to monk parrot expert Mattie Sue Athan, it's rare that isolated monk parrot pairs survive for very long in the wild. But six parrots might be able to hack it, given that they have a larger gene pool to draw on, more opportunities for cooperative nest building and cooperative breeding, and, most importantly for any creature seeking to live in Manhattan, more networking opportunities!

I officially dub this group of feral parrots "The Westies!"

For more on the Manhattan Monk Parrots, see:
Parrots Grab Manhattan Real Estate
"I'll Take Manhattan" (Wild Parrots on the Upper West Side)
Breaking News: Wild Parrots on Manhattan's Upper West Side Delighting Local Birders

Breaking News: Wild Parrots on Manhattan's Upper West Side Delighting Local Birders

Myiopsitta Monachus, the world's most persecuted parrot, is seeking to make a home for itself on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Rumors of the parrot's reappearance in Manhattan have been circulating for months (the last known nesting pair was wiped out by the attacks of 9/11/2001). During the summer of 2006, mysterious blue-green shapes were seen darting around the 79th Street Boat Basin. During the late fall, a volunteer at Riverside Park reported unusual "parrot-like" sounds in the trees. Last week, a nest at 103rd Street and Amsterdam was discovered by birder Rebekah Creshkoff and the news was posted on MarieWinn.com, a prominent Manhattan bird blog. Last Saturday, more photos were posted by BrooklynParrots.com. This weekend, noted birder Donna Browne got some spectacular close-ups of the 103rd Street Quakers, and Deborah Alperin, a Quaker Parrot partisan, reported that at least one wild parrot was seen in the middle of Broadway, just across the street from Zabar's (it is a well documented fact that these parrots have a weakness for bagels) as well as pizza.

Where did these parrots come from? Did they fly all the way from Brooklyn? Did they cross the river from New Jersey? Or did they somehow manage to escape from captivity (Quakers are raised in quantity in certain areas of Manhattan, expecially in Washington Heights)? The last possibility cannot be ruled out: Donna Browne's photos show what appears to be one bird wearing a leg band.

I'll be following this story with great interest, but fear not, fellow Brooklynites: my main focus will continue to be "the boids of Brooklyn." We've got lots of new photo-essays and stories in the works: there was a whole lot of action last weekend in the Borough of Kings and much news to report about the bizarre antics of our wild psitticine denizens.

"I'll Take Manhattan" (Wild Parrots on the Upper West Side)

A pair of wild Quaker Parrots is nesting on the Upper West Side. These would be the first wild parrots to "take Manhattan" in a long time.

As first reported on Marie Winn's Web site, a pair of wild Quaker Parrots is now nesting on the Upper West Side at 103rd and Amsterdam Avenue. When BrooklynParrots.com heard the news on Saturday, it immediately dispatched a team of Wild Parrot Paparrazi to get some photos.

We are pleased to hear that the parrots are back on Manhattan Island. The last known pair of wild parrots, nesting at Trinity Church, was wiped out in the attacks of 9/11/2001. But we are also troubled. 103rd and Amsterdam is a fairly tough block (for humans as well as birds), and we don't know what the apartment owner/renter is going to do once he/she finds out that there are wild parrots in the vicinity. We are told by a knowledgeable source in the neighborhood that the landlord of the building is "a nice guy" but we know nothing about the tenant. Let's hope for the best. If these pair weather the winter, and a baby is the fruit of their union, we'll have the first wild parrot born in the wilds of Manhattan in many years.


There are no above-ground power lines or (to my knowledge) stadium floodlight arrays in Manhattan, so wild Quaker Parrots must use the space under air conditioners for their nests. This nest is on the 6th Floor.


The male Quaker Parrot (with a stick in his beak) has harvested this nest material from a small park in a housing project just to the east of the apartment building.

It will be very interesting to see whether these adventerous parrots survive. Frankly, I am doubtful of their odds. The skies over Manhattan are largely controlled by ravenous predators (such as the hawks which Marie Winn discusses on her site) the streets are crowded with ground-based predators such as dogs, and many people are bird-phobic (landlords regularly poison pigeons in Manhattan).

We're not saying that you have to be a predator to actually enjoy living in Manhattan, but hey -- it sure helps. Still, we should give these brave parrots a hand: if anybody can take Manhattan, the gutsy Quaker Parrots can.

Thanks to Peggy M., of Brooklyn, for tipping me about this exciting development.

Breaking News: Wild Quaker Parrots Invade Manhattan!

Yesterday, I talked to a woman who volunteers in New York's Riverside who claims to have definitely heard a group of wild parrots in the park on repeated occasions for the last month. Combined with two earlier reports from reliable sources, I am convinced that there are now one or more Quaker Parrot pairs in this area, although I have not been able to locate the nest(s).

Quaker Parrots have come and gone on the island of Manhattan. The appearance of myiopsitta monachus, AKA the Quaker Parrot, in Central Park, is old news. In the 1970's several attempted to establish a claw hold there, but were removed by Park Officials. The fear was that the parrots might take over the park, a place where a remarkable diversity of bird life was observed on each Audubon bird count.

There have been rumored sightings of wild parrots by the Cloisters, and one of them is especially fantastic: the claim that all of the wild parrots in the Northeast gather on a certain day in May to discuss region-wide strategy. They then disperse, to the Bronx, New Jersey, Brooklyn, and up the coast along the Sound, through New Rochelle, Greenwich, and up to Connecticut and even Rhode Island. It's a nice story, and it's also likely a far fetch from truth.

In 2000 or 2001, a nesting pair was sighted in lower Manhattan in the tower of Trinity Church, but the birds were wiped out in the 9/11/2001 attacks. A photograph is said to exist documenting their attempt to rebuild. No further sightings of these birds were ever made, and they are presumed lost.

I've always thought that the chances of Quakers surviving in Manhattan for very long was very low. Central Park has too many predators (mainly hawks) to make a parrot stay very pleasant for very long. There are very few good grassy areas to forage on. Nesting opportunities are limited: under outside-mounted air conditioners, unlike their outer borough brethren, which have a choice of stadium light and power transmission poles that make building large colonial nests easier. Air conditioner nests are only good for a 1-family, not a 9-family nest, but the quakers are resourceful, and there's nothing to stop them from attempting to establish multiple 1-family nests under multiple air conditioners affixed to Riverside Drive apartment buildings.

The fact that a family of wild quaker parrots is nesting on the Upper West Side is, I think, a great thing. Still, there are many worries associated with this development. If they're nesting under an air conditioner, whose air conditioner is it? What will the management do? The good news is that there is plenty to eat in Riverside park: many good trees bearing nuts, berries, leaf buds, and enough dog-free grass to safely forage in. But if their nest is removed between now and next March, the birds will surely die. Once the nest is located, and the disposition of the apartment owner and/or co-op board toward them is known, a safer prediction on the fate of these birds can be made.

Will the Manhattan parrots make it through their first winter? Stay tuned.