One day last week I looked out my living room window and saw a flash of green. A parrot was walking along a branch, munching on berries in a tree in my backyard. Going outside to get a closer look, I saw a second parrot in another tree. They called out to each other and explored the trees while a mourning dove sat still and quiet on a lower branch.
I first learned of these exotic birds living wild in New Orleans when a friend and I spotted some in palm trees in an open area of the Audubon Zoo a few years ago. Delighted to see two of them pay me a visit in Mid-City, I decided to learn a little more about them.
The birds are Monk Parakeets, also known as Quaker Parrots, Quaker Conures, or Gray-breasted Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). Native to Argentina and other South American countries, they are known for their unique nesting habits, using sticks to build large nests resembling apartment complexes with a separate entrance and rooms for each parrot family. The largest nest found in Argentina had over 200 compartments and weighed over 2600 pounds.
The first confirmed sighting of feral Monk Parakeets in the New Orleans area was in the early 1970s in Metairie, although there were rumored sightings of them as early as the 1940s. They can now be seen throughout the area, traveling in noisy, flashy flocks. It seems these bright, friendly birds have found a home in this colorful city.
Submitted by Rebecca Connor, a freelance writer living and working in New
Orleans.
