A Bespoke reader sent in photos of the Quaker Parrots that have been seen hanging around parts of Harlem this winter. The above images were taken over on Madison Avenue and 128th Street and it appears that a colony lives in the vicinity based on comments we received from a past post about the colorful parrots living in Harlem: LINK. There have been reports of Quaker Parrots living in Brooklyn in the last few years but Harlem apparently has few of these exotic birds nesting in the trees uptown.
our next door neighbors have an apple tree in their backyard (136/137) - the last 2 summers we've had over a dozen parrots at a time munching away on the apples - truly an amazing sight. They're noisy as can be but I love them!
ReplyDeleteYes these birds were escaped or let out from LGA airport several years ago by someone smuggled from south America, some how Thank goodness ! they survived in the city, living in a bog flock in a cemetary in Bkly and once in a while in Prospect park, Last year I tracked down to upper Harlem around W 135-150 St.. Iam glad more and more spread out..
ReplyDeleteYes, the two areas the reports are coming in at are in West Harlem over by the Hamilton Heights area close to Riverside Park and around West 128th Street on the Central Harlem/East Harlem cusp of the neighborhood.
ReplyDeleteThey're also in Hancock Park.
ReplyDeleteI've spotted them by Jackie Robinson Park as well:)
ReplyDeleteIve seen them in St. Nicholas Park for years. At first I thought the one I saw was an escaped caged bird and then I saw a whole flock and assumed they were migrating! Wow. So Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThis identification of bird locations is such an incredibly good example of how useful local blog reporting can be. Thank you, Ulysses, for making this possible.
ReplyDeleteNice photos
ReplyDeleteWhile these birds are beautiful they are a real problem. In the winter they build large nests in pine trees out of new growth. This slowly kills the tree. It's a problem in Bridgeport CT.
ReplyDeletethey don't migrate south for warmer climate?
ReplyDeleteI hate to be a wet blanket, but these birds really are an invasive species. They cause a lot of damage and are banned as pets in many states. The fact that they overwinter in our climate and can now ravage the apple crops in huge flocks is just one serious problem. They also build big nests on power poles in the outer boroughs causing expensive damage (passed on by ConEd to the electricity consumer) and power outages. As pretty and cute as they are, they still don't belong and only further disrupt the balance of nature.
ReplyDelete