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To: Calpernia
Monk parakeets are probably better known as 'Quaker parrots'. Here's another story touching on the population of Quakers in Chicago:

Link

16 posted on 11/17/2005 6:08:14 AM PST by elli1
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To: elli1
Thanks for that link. They are really pretty birds. I did look up what Fierce Alliance was explaining. I didn't think about the colonization factor.

I then found this and understand what he was explaining.

Very sad; but I do undertand.

Excerpt:

One characteristic of monk parakeets has already caused frustration among people, and considerable destruction: their attraction to utility poles as a nesting substrate. Electrical utilities in Florida, Texas, and Chicago refer to them as "feathered rats", and have taken to removing nests from their poles. In some cases the heavy bulk of sticks have caused the transformers to overheat and catch on fire. The removal is usually met by an outraged public...in Chicago the electrical company knocked down a nest containing several eggs and nestlings a few years ago. This "strategy" of nest removal is a PR nightmare, and ultimately ineffective. After three different nest removals in Chicago, I witnessed the birds immediately rebuilding the nests after the workers left. Are monk parakeets an agricultural threat? Data from their native range are hard to come by, and what has been published is often in Portuguese. No estimates of actual crop damage by monk parakeets are available. Typically, they are blaimed for much more damage than they cause because they are much more visible than an insect or a fungus. One Brazilian study found moderate percentages of corn and wheat in the crops of monk parakeets, but the sample size was small. This method can also be biased by the timing and location of sample collection. In the United States, a master's student studying monk parakeets in Florida told me a few years ago that she had observed monk parakeets and other naturalized parrot species feeding in groves of exotic fruit species (e.g. mango, lychee, longan). However, I don't think she was ever able to quantify the damage. No reports exist of monk parakeets feeding in other agricultural crops (e.g. the extensive grain fields surrounding the Chicago area).

(snip)

18 posted on 11/17/2005 6:24:20 AM PST by Calpernia (Breederville.com)
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