"Parrot in the Street" Interview: What's Up With the New York Pigeon-Feeding Ban?

We caught up with Quake, one of Brooklyn's most outspoken wild parrots, to ask him how Councilman Simcha Felder’s controversial proposal to ban pigeon feeding in New York City was playing in the wild Quaker Parrot community. Surprisingly, it seems that many of Brooklyn's wild Quaker Parrots support it.

BrooklynParrots.com: Why do you support Councilman Felder's pigeon feeding ban?

Quake: Look, I don't want to misrepresent the facts here. This is a divisive issue and we parrots don't all support it. In fact I'd say that it's really only about 60-40 in support. But we put it to a vote, the "acks" had it, so we're going to endorse it.

BrooklynParrots.com: I still don't understand why you parrots support the ban. I thought you guys were generally friendly with the pigeons.

Quake: We generally are. In fact we wouldn't even have gotten involved in the issue, but the pigeons asked us to support it. So the whole thing came from them.

BrooklynParrots.com: The pigeons support the ban? That makes absolutely no sense.

Quake: If you could jump out of your fat stupid human head for a few minutes you'd see that the pigeons have nothing to lose from this ban, and everything to gain.

BrooklynParrots.com: You don't have to insult me.

Quake. I apologize. I forgot how thin-skinned you people are. Maybe that's because I haven't bitten any of you in a while.

BrooklynParrots.com: Could we get back to the pigeon ban? Why do the pigeons think it's in their best interest?

Quake: Look, none of us birds sees this thing as a law that's really aimed at pigeons. It's actually aimed at the hawks. In fact, it's basically a raptor reduction policy that's being sold to the public as a pigeon feeding ban. So it's brilliant.

BrooklynParrots.com: I'm totally lost now.

Quake: Think about it. If any politician in New York came right out and said they wanted to cut the number of Red-Tail Hawks in New York in half, you'd have all the Pale Male people burning them in effigy. Even the Audubon Society would be tearing your head off. But if you instead go after the hawk's food supply, which is mostly pigeons, you've got everybody praising you as a visionary.

BrooklynParrots.com: So you let me get this straight. If you ban feeding pigeons, you'll reduce the number of pigeons, which will reduce the number of hawks, which will help you parrots, because the hawks are your main enemies.

Quake: You know, for a human, you're pretty sharp.

BrooklynParrots.com: That still doesn't explain why the pigeons are in favor of reducing their own population.

Quake: Short term it doesn't make sense. Long term it does. New York pigeons are a lot smarter than you think. They think at least eight generations ahead. You humans should think as long-term as they do. But now I'm coming close to insulting you again.

BrooklynParrots.com: I'm still confused.

Quake: Why does that not surprise me?

BrooklynParrots.com: I mean, with zero pigeons on the scene aren't the hawks going to come after you more frequently?

Quake: No question.

BrooklynParrots.com: You're not worried?

Quake: We have full confidence in the Sentinel Alert System to protect us.

BrooklynParrots.com: How do the squirrels feel about this? Aren't the hawks going to go after them once the pigeons are gone?

Quake: The squirrels are definitely going to take a hit from this one. They're going to have to lie low for a couple of years, until the hawks leave the area. We feel bad for them but there's not a lot we can do. Besides, they're mammals: looking after them is your department, not ours.

BrooklynParrots.com: How about the hawks? What do they think?

Quake: We don't know and we don't care. We just want them out of here. Brooklyn is crawling with hawks. It's time for a change, and the pigeon-feeding ban is the first step in what we hope will be a major raptor reduction in the city.

BrooklynParrots.com: Well, thanks for your time today. You certainly have a unique perspective on this issue.

Quake: "Starve a Pigeon, Starve a Hawk:" that's the flock's new slogan. We're getting that crazy parrot guy in Brooklyn to make bumper stickers. They should sell in the millions.

BrooklynParrots.com: Thanks, again, Quake.

Quake: No problem.

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.

Photo-Essay: Hawk Attack in Brooklyn!

Last Sunday afternoon, the Greenwood Cemetery Division of the Brooklyn Parrots were perched in several pine trees, enjoying a peaceful lunch.


At about 4:00 PM, a large group of local pigeons began foraging on the cemetery grounds.


A group of quakers simultaneously began to stroll the grounds. Here, a small family is walking: Dad is on the right, Mom in the middle and Junior on the left.


The Quaker Parakeets, employing their "Sentinel Alert System" are broadcasting "medium alert" signals. A predator has been rumored to be patrolling the grounds, but has not been sighted in the near vicinity of the grazing birds for some time. Reflecting this eased threat level, every 20 seconds or so, "orange" codes (the monks have 11 different distinct calls and several are reserved for "situation" alrts) are issued by the parrots. In the prior hour, several "red" alerts were issued, but each proved to be a false alarm.


Suddenly, silently, a red-tailed hawk dives from above. With only seconds to spare before death strikes the flock, the monks shriek out their "reserved word" for hawk attack - a strident four-part call: AK-AK-AK-AK!!!


Immediately heeding the parrots' alarm signal, the pigeons take off and wheel in the skies, hoping to shake off their fearsome predator.


The hawk, having lost considerable kinetic energy in his plunge, as well as the advantage of surprise, locks onto a fleeing pigeon but is unable to overtake the bird.


Meanwhile,the parrots group together and fly evasively to the sheltered safety of the trees.


Protected by thorny pine needles, the parrots perch, hoping that the hawk will leave.


The hawk circles widely, rises on a gust of wind, and flies east to his tombside home bereft of a successful kill. This unnamed hawk - a possible offspring of Pale Male and Lola, Manhattan's famous hawks - appears to have lost the feathers on his right leg. If prey birds refer to predators by name, his appellation might therefore be "One Leg" or perhaps "Torn Pants."


After five minutes of peace, the monk parakeets declare the return of "orange" alert. The hawk is gone.


Hawks are an everyday hazard for the wild parrots of Brooklyn, as they are for quakers living in other urban areas where these predators roam the skies. Although hawks eat pigeons more frequently than they do parrots, wild quakers can feel the fatal clutch of the hawk's talons if they are not careful. The flock continues to survive, using teamwork, vigilance, and the Sentinel Alert System. This burly sentinel feels the heavy weight of flock safety on his shoulders - let's wish him well, because life is not easy for a wild parrot in Brooklyn.

Lecture: Urban Parrots, Urban Pigeons

Wild urban parrots and pigeons may squabble sometimes, but more often than not, they get along famously well.

BrooklynParrots.com is proud to announce that we have been asked to give a lecture on wild monk parrots to Pigeon People, a New York-based environmental group whose goal is to improve attitudes toward pigeons through public education. The lecture will take place on Sunday, October 16th, at the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, in Central Park, at 1:00 PM. The Dana Center is located at the northeast corner of the Park at 110th Street.

As I've noted in my photo-comic, Monk Parrot High School Rumble, the wild parrots of Brooklyn and New Jersey have a close, and sometimes contentious relationship with the pigeons in the same area. But despite their occasional squabbling, it's also plain that these two bird species generally get along very well, and, in fact, depend on each other. In my lecture, I hope to illustrate the many ways that wild parrots and wild pigeons get along, ways which range from shared housing to cooperative flocking and feeding.

If you're in the Big Apple on Sunday, October 16th, please come by!

Sincerely,
Steve Baldwin
Webmaster
BrooklynParrots.com