These particular parrots visited our feeders daily about block and half away-very entertaining. They had seven "little ones" and survived the great four-foot blizzard (their nest engulfed a nice warm transformer) late 90s.
Gary Nunn, CO On Mar 11, 6:40 pm, Bill Maynard <[email protected]> wrote: > Here is my story and I am not necessarily sticking to it. In the 1980s, > there was a Monk Parakeet stick nest/home on a electric transformer in an > alley in Colo. Spgs. The people in the neighborhood who watched these > birds were quite attached to them, but the stick structure eventually > caused an electrical fire on top of a utility pole. After the fire was > extinguished, Colorado Springs Utilities contacted a Ft. Collins-based > environmental consultants, EDM, International, and their biologists came > to the rescue. Parakeets forage during the day but they return to their > roost/nest in the evening. The Springs birds were trapped at night and > one was taken to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, I thought one bird died, and for > sure one bird was taken to a veterinarian who rehabilitated the bird. At > least a few years ago, she still kept it in a cage at her practice. I > can't remember this vet's name, but she told me this account and she > showed me the parakeet. > > More interesting, as has already been mentioned, Monk Parakeet is a > southern South American species, the only Psittacid (huge family with > about 346 species) that builds and lives in a communal stick nest/roost. > Their structures can be huge, the size, and half the weight, of a > Volkswagen even. In the U.S., this established exotic is kept alive in > the Chicago area during winter by people who put out seed. Even though > Monk Parakeet is on the state checklist of Illinois birds, Monk Parakeets > there would mostly likely perish from harsh Midwest winters without > artificial feeding. From a listing standpoint, the ABA Checklist > Committee states exotic species must meet 8 criteria to become > established in the ABA Area. Criteria #7 says "the population is not > directly dependent on human support." > > In Miami and the Greater Tampa Bay area or in Ft. Worth, Texas, Monk > Parakeets are locally abundant established birds and they also can be > found locally in NYC and in New England states. To me, the birds making > noise in their roosts are as loud as a jet engine, but much more > fascinating to watch, especially in April during courtship displays. > > Bill Maynard > Colorado Springs > ____________________________________________________________ > Click here for great quotes from top international > movers!http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2141/fc/BLSrjpTMAuR1QDiivj9JvPGFU... --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Join us at the 2009 Convention in Alamosa: http://cfo-link.org/convention/index.php You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
