Leonia power outage caused by Quaker parrots, PSE&G says

LEONIA — Nearly 500 customers were without power early Wednesday morning after a Quaker parrot nest caused a transformer to overheat, PSEG officials said.

The bright green birds, also known as monk parakeets, are a common sight along the Palisades, and their large, globular nests sometimes cause problems for the company when they build them on utility poles.

The outage happened around 3 a.m. and crews restored power by 4:30 a.m., said Anette Hicks, a spokeswoman for the utility.

“They removed the nest and the parakeet,” she said. She did not know if the bird survived the ordeal.

The Quaker parrots have been flourishing in Leonia, Fort Lee and Edgewater and in surrounding towns for decades, but PSEG obtains a permit twice a year to remove their nests from utility poles to prevent outages. Crews worked in March to remove nests from poles in the three towns.

This is the second such incident in recent months; a four-hour outage in December was also attributed to a monk parakeet nest.

Earlier: Edgewater parrot nests removed from utility poles along the Palisades

Leonia power outage caused by Quaker parrots, PSE&G says – Hunterdon County Democrat

LEONIA — Nearly 500 customers were without power early Wednesday morning after a Quaker parrot nest caused a transformer to overheat, PSEG officials said.

The bright green birds, also known as monk parakeets, are a common sight along the Palisades, and their large, globular nests sometimes cause problems for the company when they build them on utility poles.

The outage happened around 3 a.m. and crews restored power by 4:30 a.m., said Anette Hicks, a spokeswoman for the utility.

“They removed the nest and the parakeet,” she said. She did not know if the bird survived the ordeal.

The Quaker parrots have been flourishing in Leonia, Fort Lee and Edgewater and in surrounding towns for decades, but PSEG obtains a permit twice a year to remove their nests from utility poles to prevent outages. Crews worked in March to remove nests from poles in the three towns.

This is the second such incident in recent months; a four-hour outage in December was also attributed to a monk parakeet nest.

Earlier: Edgewater parrot nests removed from utility poles along the Palisades

Photos: Edgewater parrot nests removed from utility poles along the Palisades

EDGEWATER — One of the unique sights the denizens of the New Jersey Palisades become accustomed too is the quick flash of green overhead — a tropical parrot joining his flock in the trees.

The wild parrots of Edgewater have joined the pantheon of New Jersey legend with a feature in Weird New Jersey, and of course have their own Facebook page for admirers to keep tabs on them.

But they also present a unique problem for the region’s utility, PSEG, with their preference for utility poles as nesting sites. Crews finished work Wednesday removing some of those nests from poles in Edgewater, Fort Lee and Leonia, the company said.

PARROTS IN NEW JERSEY?

Their are plenty of origin stories for the Quaker parrots, also known as Monk parakeets, the most common being that they escaped from John F. Kennedy airport in New York during the delivery of a shipment of exotic birds in the 1970s.

They’re originally from South America, but live in a “temperate zone” climate not dissimilar enough from northern New Jersey to cause problems for the birds, Alison Evans-Fragale, who heads the Edgewater Parrot Society, told NJ.com earlier this year.

They’re now a common site in communities along the Palisades, with their large, globular nests sitting in neighborhood trees.

But they also build their homes on utility poles, often beneath transformers and other equipment, drawn in by the warmth it generates. Kristine Snodgrass, a spokeswoman for PSEG, said the nests can reduce airflow around the equipment, which can become dangerous over time.

“When there’s a lot of demand and the equipment heats up, there’s no circulation,” she said. That can lead to short-circuiting and outages — a four-hour outage in Leonia, Englewood Cliffs and Teaneck in December was attributed to a Quaker nest, Snodgrass said.

So twice a year, the utility obtains permits from the state Division of Fish and Wildlife to dismantle the nests built around the utility poles, in hopes that the birds relocate to nearby trees. In the spring, the work is timed between the post-winter thaw and the bird’s nesting season in April, so that there aren’t eggs in the nests when crews take them down.

Because the birds are non-native, they’re technically considered a “potentially dangerous species” by the state — a designation the Edgewater Parrot Society has been working for years to remove.

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The group said on its Facebook page this week that the recent removal work by PSEG had gone smoothly.

“The wild Quakers will now spend the next few weeks frantically re-building in an effort to have a place to call home in time for the breeding season,” they wrote. “Kudos to PSEG for their humane efforts on behalf of the wild Quaker Parrots.”

Click here to see more images of the birds in Egewater, Fairview and Cliffside Park.

Free birds

Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s . . . hey, it is a bird, a parrot no less — in January! The Quaker parrots or monk parakeets, as they’re known, haven’t just lived in New York for decades, they survived Hurricane Sandy and are now ready to outlast a sub-zero winter.

Despite their warm-climate appearance, the nonmigratory wild parrots are as hardy as their nests, and highly adaptable to city life.

“The nests themselves are very well-insulated,” says Steve Baldwin, a 56-year-old writer and editor who’s been leading monthly Brooklyn Wild Parrot Safaris in the borough since 2005.

“Each is built from hundreds of twigs gathered from local trees, and any gaps are stuffed with leafs or sprigs of grass. They do seem to continue to work on their nests through the winter, but it appears to be repair work, not actual construction.”

The sociable birds have made homes for themselves all over the city; colonies can be found in Queens, The Bronx and Westchester, in addition to Brooklyn.

No one is quite sure how they originally wound up here; there is a popular story about a shipment of birds from Argentina that got loose at JFK in the late ’60s. But there is no documentation to confirm this.

“Cold weather doesn’t seem to bother them much. They’re equipped with a kind of feather down that provides very good insulation,” says Baldwin, noting that their origins are, indeed, from parts of Argentina with high elevations that can dip into cold temperatures.

“Strategies for staying warm include huddling together out in the open or on fire escapes to catch some rays.”

Or, much to the annoyance of Con Edison, on the transformers at a substation across from Green-Wood Cemetery, where they’ve established colonies. The nests are built near the fans that blow hot air, providing a handy space heater of sorts.

“It seems like a fire hazard,” says Sharon Stiteler, who writes the bird-watching blog Birdchick. Chris Olert, a spokesman for Con Ed, agrees.

“I have 146 files on these buggers,” he says. “They’re the Donald Trumps of nest-making. They really go to town. There’s a safety issue, because their nests can cause fires. They’ve caused major outages. We monitor them. When there’s a danger of fire, we remove the nest.”

And then these cheeky parrots build another one in short order.

The one place they won’t build? Structures that are specifically built for them. At Green-Wood, historian Jeff Richman says that during a renovation of the main gate, where the parrots convene, nests had to be removed. “We constructed what we were hoping would be temporary housing for them,” he says. “But they were more than happy to nest in a nearby oak tree instead.”

And at Brooklyn College in Midwood, where they’ve also colonized, metal platforms were constructed for them during a renovation of the institution’s fields, where the parrots had previously nested among the floodlights.

These days, the metal cages all stand empty — and you can clearly see parrot nests constructed, once again, up among the floodlights.

Just like any New Yorker, these birds know the real estate they prefer and will move in where — and when — best suits them.

Steve Baldwin resumes his free parrot tours on Jan. 5. You can find information at brooklynparrots.com.

sstewart@nypost.com

Edgewater residents concerned over tree removal’s impact on exotic parrots

A group of Quaker parrots that live in Edgewater may need to find a new home after the borough removes several trees where they nest, The Record reports.
S.P. Sullivan/NJ.com

EDGEWATER — For nearly four decades, Edgewater has made an unlikely home for a colony of exotic birds. But some residents are worried that some recent tree trimming may put an end to their stay.

The Record reports that the borough has recently begun removing many of the trees where the group of Quaker parrots (also known as Monk parakeets) nest along Route 5. The moves have caused a stir among locals, who have grown attached to the birds over the years.

“Coming in with chainsaws and cutting down these trees that hold so much life….is irresponsible,” Michelle Lynn Schotanus told the paper.

Borough Administrator Greg Franz sought to ease concerns by assuring residents the birds would settle again nearby – just as they have been forced to in the past when storms or utility crews disturbed their nests.

Franz also said that not all residents are fond of the birds, and that he receives numerous complaints about the noise level they create.

Related coverage

• Outcry erupts in Edgewater over removal of trees that are home to wild parakeets | The Record

Famed green parrots spotted around North Bergen ‘Quakers’ said to have …

The Lowe’s Home Improvement store on Tonnelle Avenue has some new flying neighbors: the green Quaker Parrots, which are sometimes referred to as Monk Parakeets. The parrots and their giant nests have been a familiar sight along River Road in Edgewater for more than 30 years, and seem to have recently migrated in small flocks to North Bergen. They originate from South America and are rumored to have escaped from a broken shipping crate at JFK Airport in the 1970s.

Nesting parrots

Quakers are the only parrots that construct nests, and a very visible one has been built on a utility pole in front of Lowe’s. The large nest consists of woven twigs or vines that are placed together.

Alison Evans-Fragale, an advocate for the birds, created the website edgewaterparrots.com and is the founder of the Edgewater Parrots Foundation. According to the site, Quakers often choose to construct their nests in places which they know will provide warmth, such as near electrical power transformers and lights.

_____________

“They are from an area of South America that has a climate similar to ours.” – Alison Evans-Fragale

____________

“North Bergen is Edgewater’s neighbor in the south,” said Evans-Fragale. “They are from an area of South America that has a climate similar to ours. They can survive cold temperatures because they build large stick nests that they live in year-round; nests are not just for breeding purposes. Individuals have a long life and remain with original flock. Additionally, they reproduce slowly. Established colonies have not increased as much as that of the starlings or sparrows. Monks do not occupy open areas aggressively. They will cohabitate with native species and will share food sources and locations.”

Company policy did not allow Lowe’s management to disclose any information about their feathered neighbors other than the fact that they have been there for quite some time.

Friend or foe?

According to edgewaterparrots.com, in the 1970s lawmakers became concerned that the Quaker populations would pose a threat to agriculture and other animals, even though the website says they are sociable birds.

Assemblywoman Joan Voss (D – 38th) said in May 2007, legislation to remove the parrots from the state’s list of potentially dangerous species passed in the Assembly but stalled in the Senate. Legislation to remove them was also introduced in 2010 but has yet to be passed.

PSEG considers the nests a potential fire hazard. The parrot advocates reached a truce with PSEG, who agreed not to remove the nests during breeding season. Prior to that, they tore them down during breeding season, which may have harmed the parrots.

“We remove the nests each spring to ensure the integrity of the electrical system,” said PSEG officials last week. “The birds are attracted to heat given off by transformers and other equipment high up on the poles. Nests often damage electrical equipment by engulfing the electrical devices, which blocks ventilation. The resulting trapped heat can cause devices to short-circuit, leading to local power failures. Our procedure is to try to remove the nests before the breeding season.”

Evans-Fragale’s website said the parrots were blamed for two fires in Edgewater that occurred in 1998 because of their nests, although the site claims that one was due to lightning and the other was caused by a burning cigarette. One fire led to an hour long of power loss.

Residents weigh in

The parrots are normally spotted on the side of Lowe’s closest to the McDonald’s near some cliffs.

“I’ve seen them for seven years now,” said North Bergen resident Ralfy Sanchez.

“I’ve seen them two or three times,” said West New York resident Adrian Suarez. “Yesterday when I passed, they were here.”

Even some residents from more distant towns are drawn to the parrots.

Lyndhurst resident Julian Cordova noticed another effect of the birds’ presence.

“There seem to be less pigeons,” she said.

Vanessa Cruz can be reached at vcruz@hudsonreporter.com

Why Do Parrots Pluck Their Feathers?

Many veterinarians estimate that 50 percent or more of the pet birds they see engage in some type of over-preening or feather damaging behavior (FDB). 

Psittacosis was once known as parrot fever.

“Feather loss is one of the most complex and frustrating problems avian veterinarians see on a frequent basis,” said Jeffrey Jenkins, DVM, an avian veterinarian in Southern California. He sees between 15 and 20 birds a day and never goes a day without seeing at least two new cases of feather picking.

Pet Bird Species That Have Feather Damaging Behavior
Any bird can become a feather plucker, but cockatoos, cockatiels, quaker parrots and Brotogeris parakeets, Eclectus parrots, African grey parrots, lovebirds and parrotlets seem particularly predisposed to this behavior. All of these are species that live in large flocks in the wild. It’s not unusual in Australia, for instance, to see a flock of 500 or 1,000 cockatoos hanging out together in the trees.

“The flock species use their social environment as part of their mental health, and they do everything together. If one of them gets separated from the rest of the flock, the bird becomes fearful,” explained Larry Nemetz, DVM, an exotics-only veterinarian in Southern California. In our homes, a cockatoo that feels isolated from its human “flock” will become anxious as well, and this can lead to feather picking or other behavior problems.

In contrast, a nomadic bird, such as any of the Amazon parrot species, Pionus parrots or large macaws aren’t usually bothered as much when they’re alone. In the rain forests of Central and South America, these birds usually fly in groups of just two to four birds. As pets, nomadic species seem to be less likely to pick their feathers. “It doesn’t mean it’s impossible for them to do it, but it’s uncommon,” Nemetz said. For every one Amazon parrot he sees that feather picks, he sees 25 cockatoos that do it.

Other Pet Bird Feather Destructive Behaviors


Besides plucking out their feathers, birds may also chew, bite, shred, strip, bend and over-preen them. This is done in varying degrees. A bird may only clip off the top half of its feathers and leave the bottoms, pull the entire feathers completely from their shafts, only nibble on certain feathers like the tail or the contours, or just pluck out the down and leave the top feathers. There may be only a few feathers missing in a particular spot, to every feather within reach of its beak being pulled.

A related behavior that some pet birds do is skin mutilation. A bird might nip on a bare spot on its body, yank out a feather shaft and make the whole area bleed, or gnaw on a scab or wound. Because it causes bleeding, skin mutilation is very serious.

“Birds can slowly bleed to death with chronic mutilation even if it looks like only small amounts of blood are lost at any one time,” warned North Carolina avian veterinarian, Gregory Burkett, DVM. If a bird hits a major artery, that can be an emergency.

Washington state avian veterinarian, Cathy Johnson-Delaney, DVM, figures that one out of every 10 feather pickers also mutilates the skin. “Mutilators generally start out as feather pickers,” she said. “There may be a spot on the bird’s body where it is accustomed to picking feathers, and there are no feathers there anymore and so it bites its skin instead. The bird may continually have scabs on its chest because it picks and picks and picks.”

In some cases, the mutilation may actually be a result of the feather plucking, added Julie Burge, DVM, a veterinarian in Missouri with a special interest in birds. For instance, she said. “If a bird completely removes a feather, the follicle will be open and more vulnerable to infection. There may also be pain from where the feather was pulled, just like if a woman yanked some hair from her head. The bird may begin to pick at the skin in the area in an attempt to remove the pain. This begins a vicious cycle, because the open wound hurts and itches, so the bird digs at it more and more.”

Pet Bird Feather Damaging Behavior Causes


What would motivate a bird to destroy its feathers or mutilate its skin? There is a seemingly endless list of reasons why. However, most causes fall into one of three categories: physical or medical problems, environmental factors, and behavioral or psychological reasons.

Included in the list of physical causes are viral infections (such as polyomavirus and psittacine beak and feather disease), bacterial and fungal infections (Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Candida, Microsporum, etc.), external parasites (scaly face and leg mites, quill mites, lice, etc.), allergic hypersensitivity reactions, nutritional deficiencies, poor wing-feather trimming, trauma (split sternum or other bone fractures) and hormonal imbalances.

A bacterial, viral infection or protozoal infection (Giardia) can lead to skin lesions or malformation of the feathers, which a bird may want to pick at. Nutritional deficiencies, protozoal infections such as Giardia, allergies and fungal infections can make the skin dry and itchy. Dietary imbalances can also slow down molting cycles and cause the feathers to stay in too long and become irritating.
A bad wing-feather trim may annoy a bird and make it want to do some of its own “trimming” to try to fix what the trimmer did. Likewise, a fracture that has healed improperly can cause the bird neurologic pain and make it start picking at the area.

If a bird’s hormones are surging, it may pluck its feathers when it wants to nest. This is known as brood patch plucking. “Seasonally, some birds will pluck a patch of feathers on the chest or abdominal area that is used during incubation to transfer heat to the eggs.

There can also be a behavioral component to the hormonally-induced feather plucking.  “Most pet birds are intact, but they have no mate, no territory and no flock,” Johnson-Delaney said. “They have anxiety from not being able to complete the instinctive breeding behaviors. They’re stimulated to breed, but they’re not in a situation where they can do so.” These parrots take out their sexual frustrations by picking their feathers, she said.

A bird’s sexual frustrations can be exacerbated if it has a “pair bonded” relationship with the owner. “A parrot can get really upset if it thinks its owner is its mate and then that person pays more attention to another person in the room,” noted Southern California veterinarian, Tia Greenberg, DVM. The bird can get so jealous or feel so rejected by its human “mate” that it responds by ripping out its feathers.

Environmental causes include housing a bird in a cage that is too small, placing the wrong size or type of perches in the cage, exposure to airborne toxins (such as tobacco smoke and aerosol sprays, which may make the bird’s skin itchy), low humidity (most psittacines come from extremely humid climates and are bothered by the dry air in heated homes), and lack of full-spectrum lighting or the wrong kind of lighting. “The flickering sensation from a fluorescent light in the room can be very irritating to a bird and may be enough to make it pick its feathers out of frustration,” Johnson-Delaney noted.

Behavioral causes can also be a matter of the bird not having enough mental stimulation or being under too much stress. Often the parrot is simply bored and is chewing on its feathers to keep itself occupied. The bird may have never been taught how to entertain itself and not know what to do when it’s home alone during the day. Or, there may be something that is going on at home that is creating stress for the bird, such as a lot of fighting among the members of the household (maybe the owners are on the brink of a divorce), or the addition of a new pet or human family member. It could also be that the owner has moved the bird’s cage next to a window where it can see cats or crows outside, and that has it frightened.

Technically though, according to Jenkins, it’s not the stress that causes the bird to pluck its feathers but the day it figures out how to get rid of its anxiety. “The bird may have been stressed for quite some time and then one day, while it’s grooming, it pulls a feather too hard, which startles it, and then its adrenal glands fire off some epinephrine (adrenaline), and then suddenly the bird’s anxiety goes away,” he theorized.

“Then another day, the bird does it again and its anxiety goes away, and then the same thing happens again. Finally the bird figures out that if it pulls out a feather when it is feeling stressed, its anxiety disappears. That’s the day the bird becomes a feather picker.” Jenkins said the pet bird is looking for the epinephrine rush, and when it pulls out a feather, it’s self-medicating itself. The bird is treating its anxiety with epinephrine.

In most situations, feather destructive disorders are multifactorial. A bird may start out feather picking because of a medical or management issue but continue the behavior due to a secondary reason.

“The physical problem might get resolved, but the behavior continues because the bird has discovered that every time it pulls out one of its feathers, it gets attention from its owner,” said Liz Wilson, CVT, CPBC a parrot behavior consultant in Pennsylvania. “The bird learns to use feather destruction as a way to manipulate the human.” In her experience, Wilson has found that the more upset the owner is about the bird destroying its feathers, the greater the odds the bird is going to do just that.

Stop Pet Bird Feather Damaging Behavior


But, you may ask, is it really that big of a deal if your bird is missing a few feathers? Is it something you need to try to stop?

“Yes, on both counts,” said Johnson-Delaney. “If the situation is not dealt with, the problem becomes progressively worse.” A bird that starts out just clipping the top half of a feather or two may begin yanking out whole feathers from the shaft. The bird may get such a kick out of pulling one feather out that it decides to pull out another and then more and more. Soon it may be bald.

“If your bird has a bald chest and its tail and wing feathers are missing, it can suffer some physical problems,” Johnson-Delaney said. “The bird might crash onto the floor and can split its chest wide open. It could get an infection, or there could be other complications. Just sewing these birds up and trying to get them to heal without them ripping everything out is a real challenge.” Even if a bird doesn’t fall and get injured that way, bare skin may very well be the next thing the bird bites after the feathers are gone.

“Feather destruction or mutilation is not something you should ignore,” Burkett said. If you notice any missing feathers or destruction to the skin, he recommends you take your bird to the veterinarian for a full medical workup to rule out any disease or health problems that may be causing your bird to pluck itself. If it turns out that the bird has a bacterial or fungal infection, it may be a simple matter of just treating the bird with the appropriate antibiotic or antifungal medication.

A parrot that’s been plucking due to nutritional deficiencies may just need to be switched over to a more balanced diet. It may be a simple matter of installing a humidifier to add some moisture to the room, or removing the fluorescent lights and putting in “flicker-free” light bulbs. If the bird is plucking because it is allergic to something in the air, you may need to install air filters to reduce airborne allergens. If the problem is a hormonal imbalance, an anti-hormonal drug injection can be given to reduce hormone levels; it may need to be given again every year when breeding season rolls around.

Alleviate Stress Boredom


If no physical/medical or environmental problems are uncovered during the examination, your veterinarian may refer you to an avian behavior consultant to look at possible psychological causes. The behaviorist will make appropriate recommendations, depending on what is going on in your household.

“If the bird is plucking because of anxiety, the owners need to try to alleviate whatever is causing the bird stress,” suggested Michelle Karras, a bird behavior consultant in Illinois. For instance, if the bird’s cage is by the window, and a racoon’s been living in the yard lately, the bird’s cage may need to be moved to a different part of the house.

In situations where the owners are upset about circumstances in their own lives, “they need to monitor their own stress levels,” Wilson said. “When the owners are stressed, their bird’s going to pick up on that and feel anxious itself.”

For birds that are plucking because of boredom, Karras recommended giving the parrot other alternatives to occupy its time by teaching it some tricks, putting it on an exercise program or providing it with new toys.

“Parrots love to tear things up, and providing wood and rope toys that they can chew into pieces will help keep their beak busy,” Karras said. A parrot may also be entertained if you leave the television on for it during the day while you are at work, or buy it a birdie video (with footage of other parrots) to watch during the day.

Whatever may be causing your bird to pluck its feathers, don’t accidentally reward it for doing so. “Sometimes, a bird will pick its feathers, and the owner will run over to the cage and tell it ‘No! Bad bird!’ This only reinforces the behavior, because to an attention-starved bird, any attention is better than no attention,” Karras said.

Redirect Pet Bird Feather Picking


Karras recommended redirecting the feather direction. This means if your bird starts to chew its feathers while you are in the room, do something to get your bird’s mind on something else: snap your fingers, knock on a table or clap your hands. When the bird stops biting its feathers, tell it “Good bird” and start giving it a lot of attention.

You can also use time-outs when your bird starts feather picking. Johnson-Delaney has had a lot of success with this technique. “Whenever your bird starts picking, throw a cover over its cage, shut off the radio or the television, and walk out of the room in a huff,” she suggested. Stay out of the room for 10 minutes and then come back and ask your bird, “Are you going to behave yourself now?” If the bird reaches down and grabs a feather, say “No!” and leave again.

“The bird figures out pretty quickly that picking feathers is not the way to get attention,” Johnson-Delaney said. In order for this to work, you have to be consistent. Do this every time your bird picks a feather, and make sure every family member does the same.
In extreme cases of stress-motivated feather mutilation, your veterinarian may prescribe a psychotropic (anti-anxiety) drug. “Some birds may just need the medication for six to eight weeks, to try to break the cycle,” Greenberg said.

Some birds may only need doses of anti-anxiety medications twice a day for the rest of time, other birds will only need it in certain situations, like whenever you’re having a party. “The owners learn to read their birds, to know when they have anxiety,” Jenkins said. “They also learn what situations the bird is going to feather pick, and they can give it the drugs ahead of time.”

It may sound like you’re giving your bird a lot of medication, Jenkins admitted, but he believes that “taking medicines is better than your bird having anxiety and pulling all its feathers out.” If your bird is mutilating itself and bleeding, it may also need to wear a collar on a temporary basis — just until the situation is under control. 

No Quick Fixes


How difficult of a problem is feather plucking to fix? “However long the bird’s been picking, that’s probably how long it’s going to take to get the problem under control,” Karras said. “If your bird’s been picking for a year, you’re probably going to have to battle it for a year. There are no instant fixes.” For instance, if your bird is plucking because it’s pair-bonded to you, and it’s jealous of your spouse, that can take many months or even years to retrain this bird so that it learns to accept others in the household and not see you as its mate.

The truth is, not all feather destruction problems can be completely fixed. “Some feather plucking birds will be cured if they have a medical disorder that is diagnosed and properly treated, or a psychological or environmental problem that can be addressed,” Burge said. “Unfortunately, in many birds, the feather picking will become a habit that is hard to break even when the initiating cause was treated.”

Once a bird has gotten into a habit of plucking its feathers, it will always have a tendency to pluck. This is something you may have to deal with, to one degree or other, for the rest of the bird’s life. “You can get the problem under control so that maybe the bird won’t totally pluck itself bald, but it may still pick a little around its neck,” Wilson said.

Together, with your avian veterinarian and perhaps a bird behavior consultant, you may be able to get a good idea of what factors are motivating your bird to pluck itself. Then you can anticipate what’s happening in the bird’s life or in the household that may be triggering the behavior and take appropriate measures ahead of time.

For instance, if your bird rips its feathers out every year at the Fourth of July when fireworks are going off, you may need to give your bird an anti-anxiety medication beforehand. If your bird starts plucking whenever Uncle Fred comes over, you should move the bird to a room where Uncle Fred will not be in view. 

The goal is to try to minimize the damage and manage your parrot so that it doesn’t cause itself harm. “Whether or not we get a bird that has perfect feathers is not really the goal,” Wilson said. “As long as the bird is happy and healthy, if it’s just missing a few feathers, that’s something most people can live with.” 

Mystery solved: Quaker Parrots in Westerleigh are recognized by Staten Island …

This pair of Quaker Parrots have taken up residence at the corner of Manor Road and Maine Avenue in Westerleigh.
(Photo Courtesy of Werner Schreiner)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – WESTERLEIGH – The mystery surrounding the arrival of a pair of Quaker parrots – since June dead-set on building a nest on a utility pole at the corner of Manor Road and Maine Avenue – appears solved.

After reading a story published in last week’s North Shore edition about the birds’ determined construction activity, a resident of Stewart Avenue in Willowbrook immediately went to the intersection for an up-close look at the brightly colored, industrious pair.

“They are our birds!” she told the Advance last Wednesday, requesting anonymity.

“I went to see them, and talked to them,” she said, noting that when she called out their names the parrots responded to her. “I watched the male weaving twigs in and out of the nest and I got goose-bumps!”

‘LUCKY’ RESCUE IN BROOKLYN  

This native Staten Islander explained that the first parrot of the pair was a rescue, of sorts, soon after her family’s beloved cockatiel died 10 years ago.

They had enjoyed the cockatiel for 17 years. A week after it died, “my husband was driving in Brooklyn and a Quaker parrot flew in front of his car and dropped to the ground. He brought the bird back home – her wing was hanging a little, and we named her Lucky,” she explained.

The parrot was “very territorial and noisy – you could hear her from ten blocks away.”

Lucky was also a biter, and the Stewart Avenue resident’s husband, wearing protective gloves, was the only family member who opened the cage for feeding and cleaning.

NEW ARRIVAL  

Two summers ago, this resident said that she heard distinctive Quaker parrot squawking in a nearby tree, “and the next day, at seven in the morning, the bird was in the tree again.”

“Lucky was in her cage, where we kept her outdoors in the warm weather – and this other Quaker parrot kept flying around.”

Lucky spent summer days in a cage on a backyard picnic table, and at night the cage was moved to a hot-tub room. The noisy newcomer parrot flew into the room, “and started talking to Lucky.” This is how the second Quaker parrot was captured from the wild, and began taking up residence with the family.

“They mated right away, and that’s when we realized that Lucky was actually a he, so we named the new bird Girlfriend.” The bird repeatedly laid eggs, “but they always ignored them and wanted nothing to do with them.”

ESCAPE ARTISTS  

In mid-June, the two parrots escaped “after my husband left the cage and hot-tub room door open because something distracted him while he was feeding the birds.”

“We saw them for the next two days, flying from tree to tree, but after that we never saw them again,” she said. “I guess captivity was not for them.

“It was funny because the day before the article was published in the Advance we were wondering what happened to them!”

VETERINARY ADVICE  

Also known as monk parakeets, Quaker parrots “are very adaptable, very smart birds,” said Dr. Frank Scandaglia of the Island Bird Cat Dog Veterinary Group on Manor Road in Castleton Corners.

Noting that the parrots are not native to North America, their presence in wild colonies – such as those that exist in sections of Brooklyn – “may eventually interfere with the food supply of native birds,” he added.

If you come across a Quaker parrot, “the best place for it would be in a home, rather than releasing it back into the wild – a wild one can still make a good pet if you give it TLC,” said Dr. Scandaglia.

It’s a long commitment: Quaker parrots “can live up to 30 years.”

The birds “are in the conure family, and vocalize quite a bit,” he added.

We asked about Lucky and Girlfriend, since they are now living in the wild after years in captivity. “They will re-adapt to the new environment,” Dr. Scandaglia predicted.

Staten Islanders with Quaker parrots should bring them to an avian veterinarian at least twice a year for a physical exam, including blood and stool samples, he recommended.

Staten Island is new home for South American birds

View full sizePhoto courtesy of Werner SchreinerThis pair (of Quaker parrots) are truly “newlyweds,” guesses Westerleigh resident Walter Levendosky, describing the birds that are taking up residence at the corner of Manor Road and Maine Avenue.WESTERLEIGH — A home is under construction in the neighborhood without a building permit, reported Walter Levendosky, a resident of Maine Avenue for 30 years. The location is a utility pole at the intersection of Manor Road and Maine Avenue, and a pair of Quaker Parrots — also known as Monk Parakeets — are the nest-builders.

He has watched the feral birds — predominantly bright green, with red and yellow markings and long tails — “full of energy, going back and forth, chirping their heads off.” When not busy building the nest, “you can see them sitting on the wire.”

The parrots’ building has suffered several false starts, according to Levendosky.

The nest has been knocked down “numerous times by rain and high winds, and a bad choice of location, (but) they are nothing if not determined.

“This couple is truly a pair of newlyweds. They are amazing to observe as they go about their busy day attempting to build a home.

“One can only hope they are finally successful in their efforts,” said Levendosky. “Maybe the birds should move over to the Armory, which looks like prime real estate for a pair of nesting birds.”

Quaker Parrots (Myiopsitta monachus) are native to southern South America, where they thrive in grasslands and lightly wooded areas, not tropical rainforests, according to Southeast Texas Avian Rescue.

According to Tony Rose, a nurse and interested naturalist on Staten Island, this species of parrots, or parakeets, is thought to have made its way to New York via a ship. There is a group of them in the Midwood section of Brooklyn, with a large population near Brooklyn College.

In the wild, the birds “eat fruit, seeds, berries and insects,” according to Southeast Texas Avian Rescue. 

COMPLEX NESTS

The small birds, measuring 11 to 12 inches in length, “construct intricately woven nests to protect them from predators and extreme temperatures,” according to the Quaker Parakeet Society website.

The nests, fashioned with sticks, often grow into elaborate “apartment buildings,” housing more than one family.

“Each family that resides in the nest will occupy three chambers: A nursery, a communal area, and a sleeping area,” the avian society reports.

Quaker Parrot eggs incubate in about 24 days; the average size of a clutch is a half-dozen, and the young begin to fly at 6- to 8-weeks-old.

Offspring reportedly do not establish their own homes far from the location of their birth nests, so it is likely that the newlywed couple grew up somewhere outdoors on the North Shore.

Quaker Parrots: Gypsies, Scamps & Thieves

While the normal green and gray coloring of the quaker parrot does not immediately qualify it as a brightly colored bird, beauty is only feather deep. It is the character of the species that makes them stand out from other parrot species,” said Giovanni Cordeiro, whose 40 years of experience with birds includes 10 years with quaker parrots.

Character, indeed. While every parrot species is different — as is every individual pet bird and parrot — there are several traits that make quakers, well, quakers.

Quaker Parrot Nests
Quaker parrots are unusual in that they come equipped with attitude, determination, intelligence — and a desire to make and keep a home, said Ellen Krueger, a member of the Quaker Parakeet Society since 1999 and owner of quaker parrot Fonzie since 1996.

Psittacosis was once known as parrot fever.

Think a parrot building a nest isn’t unusual? These aren’t your typical nests. “These often large, dome-shaped clusters of sticks comprise multiple chambers, each occupied by a single pair for roosting and breeding. The human equivalent to this structure is an apartment building,” said Cordeiro, who has an honors degree in zoology and lives in Australia.

In fact, the nests are often comprised of three compartments or “rooms,” and are usually attached to other quaker nests in the wild, added Alyson Burgess, a quaker owner of three years in the southeast who is one of the avian experts at About.com. “These quaker ‘neighborhoods’ can become quite large and serve as evidence of the communal nature of the species. This inherent love of interaction makes them great pets for owners who want to form a close bond with their bird,” Burgess said.

While most quaker cages aren’t large enough to house an avian apartment building, quaker parrots still try. “They also exhibit the building behavior in a domestic environment,” said Krueger. “They build, weave and create nests within their cages. That is so cool, you can’t believe it.”

And just like their human counterparts in apartments and houses, quakers parrots don’t always like drop-in guests. In fact, quakers can become extremely territorial of their nests. “Most quaker owners report being attacked by their otherwise very gentle and loving pet when trying to retrieve them from within the cage,” Cordeiro said.

This might happen even without a nest in the cage. Quaker parrot territoriality has confused and concerned many a quaker owner, especially new ones.

“Not all quakers are territorial around their cages, but some are,” said Shelly Lane, who has had quaker parrots since 1995. “Unfortunately, a lot of new owners misunderstand and think that their bird suddenly turned mean on them, which isn’t the case at all. Their quaker is just displaying an instinctive behavior.”

Along with fiercely protecting their nests, quakers’ other common quirk is “borrowing” items from … wherever.

Anything Is Up For Grabs With Quaker Parrots
“Without any doubt, what sets quakers apart from other parrots is a ‘pack rat’ obsession with objects — retrieving and carrying them to their cage and carefully arranging them in the nest/cage,” said Kathleen Carr, who lives in the southeast with six quaker parrots.

And depending on what you’re missing, that behavior may be cute or not so much. “Their natural instincts for building stick nests will provide hours of amused observation from their owners,” Cordeiro said. “By 1 year of age, both male and female quaker parrots will start stealing pens and other stick-like household objects to jam into various corners of the house or their cage. It may be many years later during a major cleanup that you eventually find your favorite gold pen stashed in some obscure part of the house.”

“We’ve had household items like pencils, forks and letter openers go missing that eventually turned up in a pet quaker’s nest,” Carr said. “One day, I came home from work for lunch and found my husband’s eyeglasses in one of the nests. He’d left them on the dining room table when he went to take a shower and didn’t check to make sure the door to our bird room was closed. Beaker, one of our males, made off with them and my very-puzzled husband had to wear his prescription sunglasses to drive to work.”

Life With Quaker Parrots
When considering whether a quaker parrot is right for you, ask yourself if you are right for a quaker.

“Quakers do best in homes where they are made to be part of the family and are included in daily activities,” Burgess said. “They thrive on socialization and are happy to spend the majority of their time with (or on) their owners.”

In a home where the attention supply doesn’t meet demand, a quaker parrot can start to exhibit some undesirable behavior.

“Not being the center of the universe is a good idea from the start, but dependable attention is a must to keep the bird friendly, busy and happy,” Krueger advised. “Quakers will, of course, take as much attention as anyone is willing to give. And once they’re used to it, they will count on it. They will have a hard time adjusting to not having it if it goes away.”

And as social as they are, even quakers need some solitude. They love company and interacting with the family, but also need time alone and a good night’s sleep, Krueger said. “A tired quaker is a noisy quaker that can be cranky.”

Squawk Talk
Some quaker behavior is simply parrot behavior, not unique to the species. “Like most parrots, they can be loud and can give a painful bite,” Krueger said. “Quakers have a loud, sharp squawk, but not the worst. If a quaker wants something and doesn’t get it right away, it will ‘Ack! Ack! Ack!’ for long periods of time without stop. That’s the worst thing Fonzie does that annoys me.”

No look at quakers would be complete without addressing their considerable vocal abilities.

“While quakers do have the capacity to be loud when they want to be, they are generally one of the quieter parrot species,” Burgess said. “They will speak and chatter throughout the day at a moderate level but are not as prone to screaming as some birds, such as conures.”

The quaker parrot is known for its talking abilities, though there are, of course, no guarantees that a particular bird of any species will talk. “A quaker parrot that is spoken to at the hand-raising stage will start to use words as early as 3 months of age,” Cordeiro said. After about a year, they will pick up words relatively quickly, depending on the owner’s efforts.

Along with saying a potpourri of phrases, some quakers entertain their owners by seemingly speaking in context. “I would often wave and say goodbye to our companion quaker when leaving the house, and he recently surprised us when he said ‘Bye bye’ in response to just a wave of the hand,” Cordeiro said.

Lane’s quaker parrot, Gator, is particularly good with names. “He knows my name, my husband’s name, the dog’s name and the names of most of the other birds,” she said. “There was a time when we had some quakers in another part of the house, so he could hear them but couldn’t see them. Apparently, this made it harder for him to learn their names. One day they were being rather noisy, and Gator yelled out to them, “Quaker! Quaker bird! Be quiet!” To this day I don’t know how he picked up the phrase ‘quaker bird,’ but the only time he uses it is to refer to a quaker whose name he doesn’t know.”

However, the quaker’s great mimicking ability may not always be so entertaining. “If there is one behavior that a quaker owner will find highly amusing and yet somewhat disturbing is their ability to pick up on various bodily sounds: Sneezing, coughing, burping and, yes, breaking wind,” Cordeiro said. “The quaker parrot will also laugh with you, laugh at you or laugh at your friends.”

Friends Or Foes?
Carefully consider all potential roommates for your quaker parrot — both avian and human. Experiences keeping quakers with other birds ranged from the good, the bad and the ugly.

“While some quaker parrots may take to other birds easily, others may never get along with another bird,” Cordeiro said. “Making the assumption that two unacquainted quaker parrots will get along just because they are of the same species is also foolhardy, just as it is to assume that throwing two humans into the same room will make them instant friends.”

Burgess has found quakers generally even tempered and tolerant of birds of other species. “Some quakers can show slight cage territoriality, possibly due to their nesting instinct.” For safety’s sake do not house a quaker with a bird of a different species.

Carr learned first-hand that not all quaker parrots get along with other birds. Two of her quakers broke out of their cage and into other birds’ cages. A cockatiel was seriously injured and a budgie didn’t survive the attack. “It goes without saying that I’ve figured out ways to better secure their cages, especially in the spring when their hormone levels intensify this behavior,” Carr said.

Krueger said that some are fine as only-birds, while others have a life partner that they would be very lonely without.

Caring for a pet bird can be a rewarding and enriching experience for a child. But in the case of quaker parrots, how young is too young?

“A certain level of respect should be given to the ability of any hooked bill bird to inflict injury to facial areas, particularly of toddlers and young children,” Cordeiro said. “While it is difficult to generalize the best age for a child to begin caring for another living creature, particularly one as opinionated as the quaker parrot, a person in their mid-teens would have a greater capacity to ‘stand up to’ the demands of this parrot species.”

“Since quakers can be open with their opinions and their responses to things that go against their wishes, a child of 7 or less should always be supervised around a quaker,” said Krueger. “They can be loving and gentle with people they love, but they will also let anyone, including a child, know when the line has been crossed. A young teen or mature pre-teen could care for a quaker, but still, adult backup is a good idea. Again, education is a must before anyone of any age gets a quaker. Or any bird, for that matter.”

Along with human interaction, toys provide an important source of mental and physical stimulation for quaker parrots. They don’t need an iPod or an XBox like you, but quakers appreciate variety and things to occupy their time. Appropriate-sized toys are the same as those for cockatiels and small conures.

“Dismantling toys as opposed to playing with them is a ‘highly rewarding’ task to the average quaker,” said Cordeiro. “When picking toys for the quaker, try obtaining those that are likely to stimulate the mind.” Also provide a mix of materials — chewable, climbable and indestructible — that hang in the cage or can be held.

Quaker parrot ownership depends on the individual person and the amount of research and time they’re willing to donate.

“If the person has read what to expect with a quaker and is prepared to give the kind of attention and stimulating environment a quaker needs, a quaker can be a wonderful first bird,” said Ellen Krueger, who has written and illustrated four childrens’ books about her quaker, Fonzie. “They are so smart and funny; they win people over with their personalities and talking ability.”

“Quakers are highly intelligent birds that know how to and will use their dominance to gain control of the less-experienced parrot owner,” said Australia’s Giovanni Cordeiro. “Without a full understanding of bird behavior, many new bird owners end up with a bird that will frustrate all their efforts in developing a well-behaved companion pet.”

In some ways, a quaker parrot might just combine the best of both worlds. “Quakers are a little more challenging to build a relationship with than a budgie or cockatiel but are much easier than most larger species of parrots,” said Shelly Lane, who has operated the website QuakerParrots.com for more than 10 years. “A quaker is an excellent choice for a first-time bird owner, assuming that the new owner is willing to learn how to handle the bird and to work with it.”

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