Famed Monk parrots appearing all over Brooklyn

BY DENISE ROMANO
Tuesday, October 2nd 2007

The birds are back in town.


A few parrots flock together
on a tree in Brooklyn.

The famed Brooklyn monk parrots are popping up all over the borough — for a whole flock of reasons.

"They are expanding their range," said Brooklyn birdman Steve Baldwin. "There is a bumper crop of baby parrots that are increasing and doing very well."

Residents in Park Slope and Gowanus reported seeing the pretty green birds for the first time early this summer.

"They eat the apples and pears and fly from tree to tree," said Sandra Padilla, 38, who lives on Eighth Ave. "They are always going back and forth — about seven of them at a time."

Baldwin said the parrots come from a huge colony at Green-Wood Cemetery, and are expanding north to eat the fruit and to escape hawks and falcons.

"When a hawk shows up, the parrots get the heck out of there and fly around to spend the day somewhere else," Baldwin said. "During the day, the hawk will eat a squirrel or something, and the parrots will return in the late afternoon when the hawk is no longer hungry."

Aaron Miller, 28, an arts educator, said he has seen flocks of green flying away from the cemetery toward his 15th St. block.

"First, you see one and then four or five of them follow behind," he said, adding he started to see the monk parrots a few months ago.

"They are really funny and fascinating," he added.

The monk parrots also had nests in Bath Beach, Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn College and as far north as Cobble Hill. But they disappeared for a while after many were birdnapped or their nests were removed.

"Con Edison, the Parks Department and the Department of Education took down some nests in the borough recently," Baldwin said.

But residents are reporting bird sightings again.

"These displaced birds were looking for nests and probably settled in the ones that the birdnapped birds used to keep."

The parrots most easily can be seen parading around sidewalks and in the middle of the street early in the morning and late in the afternoon.

"During the day, the parrots like to play high up in the trees, gather food or work on their nests," Baldwin said. "But they always return home at night from wherever they came from."

Baldwin said the birds may only be visiting places like Park Slope and Gowanus. "Will they be in Park Slope when the apple trees are in bloom? We don't know," he said. "This may be just a seasonal appearance, but we don't know for sure."

Famed Monk parrots appearing all over Brooklyn

thanks for posting. I would just love to be able to see these birdies.

That is so cool!