Monk Parakeets

 Laurie and I went back to DC for the cheery blossoms over the last few days. I still have a lot of photos to go through. It's late and I drove eight hours to get home today so a long post with lots of photos is just not part of the gameplan tonight. However, it has been a month since I wrote anything so I thought a quick post about an unusual resident bird was in order.

   On our way home we stopped in Bridgeport, CT to see Monk Parakeets. Yes you heard that right, parakeets. And even more surprisingly, they are not escaped pets AND they are year round residents. While these parakeets ancestors undoubtably were escapees or purposely released, that was generations ago. These hardy parakeets can and do survive the tough New England winter. There is a very reliable park in Bridgeport where we can see them. 

   We pulled into the parking lot at 1 pm and within a minute we heard them calling. It must be close to mating season because many of the parakeets were "singing" and we saw some nest building going on. Monk Parakeets build huge nests and it looks as though they add to them year after year. Some of their nests easily rival an Osprey nest. 

   There used to be a colony of Monk Parakeets in Barrington, RI but the locals did not like them because of the noise, feces, and the huge nests on telephone poles. So the parakeets were forced to abandon their colony. I never saw them in RI but did get into birding while there were still vacant nests in the area. 

   

   Today, Laurie and I saw a total of seven Monk Parakeets all in one tree. We could hear others in different trees. We watched them for fifteen minutes but after driving five hours with another two and a half to go, we didn't stay as long as we would have liked. Still, it was a joy to see these tropical birds in New England again.