NYC Wild Parrots Bid Farewell to Snow

Wild parrots in the Bronx march past the last remains of what will likely be New York's last snowfall of the season.

Many of us wouldn't expect wild parrots in New York to like snow much, but they do. True, too much snow makes life very difficult for them, especially when a heavy coat makes their foraging grounds inaccessible. When this happens, they have rely upon leaf buds and the occasional backyard bird feeder to survive. But just a little snow is great, and our Parrot Paparazzi caught up with the Pelham Bay Parrots, when the last traces of what will likely be New York's last snowfall of the season had almost disappeared.

Why do these parrots like the snow? Well, it's a ready source of relatively pure water, and when it melts, puddles for bathing are formed. Even during the coldest months, these parrots prefer to stay clean, and it doesn't matter how cold the bathwater is!


These two wild parrots enjoy exploring the receding urban snowdrifts. It almost looks like they're on skis!


Like all urban birds, the wild parrots in NYC take real chances with their lives should they ever be foolish enough to drink from dirty, polluted puddles, which can contain toxic lead, benzine, and other killing chemicals created by automobiles. Fortunately, these birds generally stay away from such hazards. While water from melted snow in the Bronx may not be as pure as Artesian well water, it's healthy enough for these tough urban parrots.


Now THAT's a good tasting pile of snow!


The water from melted snow creates cool, relatively pure puddles. Here a Bronx parrot comes down to get a cool drink from a snow puddle.

Photo-Essay: Brooklyn's 8th Avenue Parrots

On a chilly morning in February, a bird from the "8th Avenue Gang" soaks up some sunshine.

Brooklyn's 8th Avenue Parrots are a small but hardy crew of monks who live less than 100 yards from the Gowanas Expressway at the intersection of 8th Avenue and 72nd Street. They live in a classical pole nest built under a Con Ed transformer sited in a tiny park called Anthony Mondello Triangle.

The 8th Avenue Parrots are often active in the late morning, gathering twigs for nest construction from the trees planted along the Gowanus Expressway. But sometimes they unaccountably vanish. Often, they spend time visiting their relatives to the North based in Leif Ericson Park.

As we've documented elsewhere on this site, it's a fact that Brooklyn Parrots love pizza, so I found it less than coincidental that these parrots decided to build their nest across the street from an Italian restaurant.

How long have the 8th Avenue Parrots been on the scene? According to a friendly employee of the restaurant, "at least five years." Where did they come from? My guess is that they are a spin-off "satellite" of the main wild parrot colony in Leif Ericson Park.

Without further ado, here are some photos of the 8th Avenue Parrots taken in February, 2006. Please click on any image for an expanded view.


The 8th Avenue Parrots live in a classic pole-nest chosen by the birds because of the warmth given off by its transformer. This view is looking West; the trees at the rear of this view are planted along the Gowanas Expressway.


The best place to get action shots of the 8th Avenue Parrots is actually on 7th Avenue, directly below the trees used by the parrots to provide construction materials. But be very careful: cars often speed down this strip and there's no sidewalk to offer a photographer much protection.


An 8th Avenue Parrot glides into the pole nest with a good looking thorny twig in his beak.


A moment later, he's working the twig into the nest structure.


Another bird comes in with another twig. Watching these little birds work is an inspiring experieence.


Heave Ho!


Many beaks make light the work on 8th Avenue.


But the 8th Avenue Parrots pace themselves, and are more than willing to take a short snuggle break to add variety to their long workdays.

Polly, It's COLD Outside!

How do parrots from South America manage to survive New York's frigid winters? Well, contrary to popular misconception, these parrots aren't tropical. They're quite used to winters, albiet their normal winters happen at different times of the year. Still, as anyone who's tried to weather a winter in The Big Apple knows, New York weather can be brutal, and we've seen temperatures dip into the low 20's in the last few days. So what's their secret to staying warm?

First, their bodies are equipped with very fine, multi-layered insulating down, which keeps them toastier than parrots that originate in the jungle. And, of course, these wild parrots have their sturdy, well-insulated nests to hunker down in. But they don't spend all day hunkering: many hours each day are spent foraging, gathering construction materials, flying around, yelling at the locals, and socializing.

One heat-saving method the parrots practice is the fine art of group huddling. When perching, which exposes them to the wind, ice, and rain, you'll often see these parrots packed together in two's and threes with feathers puffed, which lets them share body heat and provide a wind buffer for each other. Seeing two parrots huddling together means you're looking at a guy and a gal: seeing three huddling together means you're looking at a little family such as this one.

So which one is Mom, which one is Dad, and which one is Junior? Well, it's almost impossible to tell: these parrots have a standard dress (feather?) code that defies identification by gender and age. Only by watching this threesome for a while could I deduce from these birds' behavior that Junior is on the right side, sharing buffer duties with Dad to keep Mom warm against the biting wind. Good work, Kid!

Wild Parrots in the Snow!

On Sunday night, New York City had its first snowfall of the winter season, so naturally I ventured forth to see if I could obtain some images of wild parrots in the snow. I had reasonable luck, as these photos attest.

Enjoy this strange urban marvel: bright green and grey parrots, in the middle of New York City, frolicking in the December snow! Who needs to go to Bermuda or Cancun when there is such exotic wildlife right here?

(click on any image to see an enlargement)


Jump for joy! There's a scattering of Petco gourmet-style Finch Seed on the ground, which is especially welcome today, because the wild parrots' usual foraging ground is under an impenetrable coat of snow.



Mourning doves and sparrows are often found in the company of New York's wild parrots. Some people unfortunately think that the quaker parakeets harass other birds, but I've never seen it happen. The quakers seem to get along with every bird in New York, except for crows, falcons, and hawks, which they do not like at all.


The quaker parakeets and mourning doves are enjoying this seed, but aren't dependent on it. The quakers do very well eating acorns, which are often found around the base of trees, where the snow doesn't build up heavily.


On a later, sunnier day in December. the quakers are found frolicking in the snow.


Even though their foraging field is covered by the white stuff, these birds aren't going hungry today, however. See those tiny sprigs of grass sticking up through the snow? They're delicious and nutritious!



I will be going out to see these remarkable wild parrots on each weekend through the winter and will share any good pix I take with you all. There's something really amazing about seeing these birds -- so far from home and without any written instructions -- making a go of it in New York.

Some might call the quaker parakeets' remarkable success story in our hemisphere as an example of a highly evolved, highly adaptive creature created by the Darwinian lathe of natural selection. Others will surely view them as an example of really intelligent "Intelligent Design."

Either way, they're tough, vociferous little characters who have, in my view, earned the honorific title, "American Parrot."

For More Pictures of Wild Parrots in the Snow, please see:
NYC Wild Parrots Bid Farewell to Snow

Photo-Essay: The Parrots of December

It's cold in the Northeast, but the wild parrots of New York City, which reside happily in Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens, are adapting to the change in the weather. Winter is a trial for all of us, but these birds are resourceful, and will likely make it through this winter without too much trouble. I wish the same could be said for their brethren in Connecticut, but that's another story.

I took these pictures on December 2, 2005 to show you a few scenes from a day in the life of a wild Brooklyn Parrot. Enjoy - please click on any thumbnail to see a larger image.


With temperatures in the 30's, you'd expect these little parrots to be staying snuggled up inside their well-insulated nests. But they're out and about, and they often perch while puffing up their feathers, like this little guy, who's serving as lookout for the parrots feeding below him.


Lookout duty isn't particularly glamorous, but it's an essential job that the oldest, most experienced birds perform, to make sure that the young ones don't get whacked by a predator. This elder bird is checking out the skies for hawks and falcons, both of which have been much in evidence recently at the Brooklyn College campus.


Brrr - that steel fence has got to be cold. But the wild parakeets of Brooklyn don't complain. After all, they're from the Southern Hemisphere, so they're used to winters. And it's a fairly balmy day in Brooklyn today: temperatures are just in the low 30's!



This shot looks like it was taken in May, not December. But the grass in Brooklyn stays green a long time, and this little one is enjoying feeding on it.


These parrots walk a lot, and because, like all parrots, they have two forward-facing and two rearward-facing toes, they tend to waddle, which gives them a comical, and slightly martial appearance when moving forward. At the risk of over-anthropomorphising them, their marching gait reminds me a bit of Alec Guinness' character in the film, Bridge on The River Kwai.


These parrots, like all social creatures, sometimes have disagreements which result in some fairly loud squawking. These two are confronting each other, but from their tone it appears that a peaceful resolution to their dispute may be reached short of any ruffled feathers.


We are hungry! A load of Petco finch seed will keep these feathered Brooklynites energized for a few cold days.


We have at least three invasive species in this picture. Each of them - pigeon, starling, and parrot - was brought to America by humans and they're surviving as best they can. Only the parrots, however, have been actively persecuted by death squads such as those operating in Connecticut and Florida. These little birds are lucky to be living in New York, which is a kinder-hearted state.


Fast reflexes are necessary for survival in any urban environment. Microseconds after any loud, percussive sound, these birds are airborne.



The monks love to eat the special clover that lives in the grassy areas around the ball field, but they're also suckers for bird seed. I buy the good stuff for them, because I often suspect that I will be reincarnated as a monk parakeet in my next life (I'm still not sure if this would be a promotion or not), and I hope that someone does the same for me.


Two plush-looking quaker parakeets perch on the steel fence, as a sparrow zooms by behind them.


When I think of "Brooklyn Parrots," I think of this shot, which shows two happy pairs of monk parakeets and two loners perched on a fire escape in very cold weather. Despite the exigencies, love and life are triumphant in the most romantic of the city's boroughs.


Are these two couples hanging out on a Brooklyn fire escape arguing or joking with each other? Without knowing how to speak "Monk," it's impossible to tell, but I'd like to think that, like The Honeymooners' Ralph, Alice, Ed, and Trixie, they're sharing a joke.

Photo-Essay: The Parrots of October

The weather, finally, has turned cold in Brooklyn, and the borough's wild parrots are adjusting their behavior accordingly. In this brief photo-essay, we take a look at what life is like for a wild green parrot in a world quickly turning grey and more inhospitable with every passing day. These photos were taken in mid-October, 2005 (click on any image to see an enlargement).


A green leaf might not seem to have much nutritive value compared to the berries that used to bloom in this Brooklyn neighborhood, but this parrot seems to be enjoying his spartan meal. How these parrots digest this stuff is anybody's guess.


Two parrots perch on a steel fence near Brooklyn College's Campus Drive. Unlike humans, wild parrots don't put their summer clothes away and don sweaters and long underwear in October. They simply puff up their feathers and keep them puffed up for months at a time. The parrot on the right looks almost pensive, as if remembering the lazy afternoons and easy pickings that have already grown scarce.


October winds often bring unwelcome surprises, in the form of parrot nests destroyed by the weather. I came across this downed nest one morning in Edgewater, New Jersey, and gingerly turned it over, expecting to find injured parrots or worse. Fortunately, the "Emergency Nest Evacuation" order seems to have been heeded in a timely manner: no hurt parrots were found.


Just about every animal in Brooklyn seems hungry in October. After tossing down some bird seed, parrots, squirrels, starlings, and sparrows quickly appeared and chomped through the meal in a matter of seconds.


Squirrels aren't the only urban fauna to love acorns: these Brooklyn Parrots know where the right trees are, and will often come to hunt for acorns when the coast is clear.


I'm not sure what these birds are eating here, but it's interesting enough to hold their attraction. Small ants, perhaps?


"RED ALERT: Jogger Approaching!" The birds sound a noisy "group alarm" and take off quickly, as a speeding human charges by in Reeboks, oblivous to their meal-gathering efforts.


October is the first month of real food scarcity that the Brooklyn Parrots have experienced in months, and tempers often flare. The birds at the bottom of this photo are arguing about something, and the dispute might well be meal-related. Of course, they could just be arguing for the sake of arguing: this is, after, all Brooklyn!