Chicago Scientists Studying Urban Monk Parakeets

A wild Quaker Parrot in Chicago munches on a dandelion stalk

A Monk Parakeet (AKA Quaker Parrot) tracking project is gathering steam in Chicago. Residents of that city are being asked to report the locations of all nests where the parrots can be found. A project spokesperson, Emily Minor, has told the Chicago Sun Times that the purpose of this study is to understand the parrots' dispersion patterns and predict where they might be moving next.

While I applaud any scientific project devoted to finding more about our remarkable wild Quaker Parrots, there are two serious concerns that I must voice about the Chicago project. The first is that this research project not inadvertently supply ammunition to the parrots' detractors in the form of a "hit list." As we all know, there have been instances in which the U.S.D.A. and other government entities have basically "declared war" on the parrots, and the results have been lethal. So it is critical that the scientists not share any data with entities that have proven hostility to this wildlife in the past.

The second concern is that any map compiled of the parrots' nesting areas be restricted for use by bona fide researchers, not the general public or Web population at large. As you may know, I had to remove my interactive map of the parrots' nests in Brooklyn because I was concerned that such a map could be used by poachers, a serious problem in Brooklyn in the past several years that decimated several wild parrot colonies in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, it seems that the Chicago project has already posted such a map, although its resolution is insufficient to offer any meaningful tactical intelligence to the bad guys -- at least for now.

You can read more about the Chicago wild Parrot study here.

Quaker Parrots Can Dance Too!

The BBC and NPR both came out with stories today on a remarkable new finding by scientists: parrots are the best dancing animals in the world! 14 different kinds of parrots can keep a near-perfect beat, and the supreme avian dance master is definitely Snowball: an incredible high-stepping cockatoo with a taste for the Backstreet Boys.

Here's Snowball in action:


While Snowball is definitely the Ginger Rogers of dancing parrots, let it not be said that Quaker Parrots - the same species that lives wild in Brooklyn - can't dance too, as proven by Ellen Krueger, of the Quaker Parakeet Society. Fonzie, Ellen's multi-talented Quaker, clearly enjoys doing the boogie as much as Snowball does!


For more parrot dancing fun, check out Frostie the parrot dancing to Ray Charles' "Shake Your Tail Feather."

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?

Science Notes: Quaker Parrots Directly Related to Tyrannasaurus Rex!

An intriguing article published by the New York Times confirms what many observers of the wild parrots of Brooklyn have long suspected: our airborne "green dragons" are directly related to Tyrannassaurus Rex. Welcome to the 'hood, Dino!

New York Times "Talking Parrot" Videos

Last summer, the New York Times sent a video crew to Brooklyn to interview Dr. Joseph Forshaw, who had made a stopover on his U.S. trip to see the wild parrots of Brooklyn. Although the Times has removed the original article from public view, the videos themselves are freely viewable; if you missed them, you can watch them here:

Talking Parrots: Part 1
Talking Parrots: Part 2
Talking Parrots: Part 3