Monk Parakeets Nesting in Addison

[turtleman]

I might be a day late and a dollar short in reporting this, but I haven't seen it on Bird Chat yet. There is a nest being built by Monk Parakeets in Addison on Belt Line and Runyon Rd. on the NW corner in a live oak next to the Hanicapped parking spaces for Christina's Mexican Restaurant. Christina's is diagonally NW across Belt Line from SAM's.

The parakeets are busy bringing sticks to the nest and flying and perching in the trees and power lines in the area.

I will include a picture of the nest in this posting, although I didn't get any pictures of the birds, YET. I bet the photographers in the Bird Chat group could get some good ones.

Richard

[Vern]

Those birds sure seem to believe in building apartment size nests! I bet the restaurant owners are going to love that.

[EastLawther]

Just want to add that the monk parakeets on the transformers, at the White Rock Pumping station, built nests like this. They seem to go inside rather than on top.

Despite the markers, apparently, the power company removes the nests. The effect has been to scatter the birds, perhaps to your site in Addison. They have been seen all over.

[turtleman]

Somewhere I remember hearing that the utility company was going to remove the nests near White Rock Lake, BUT were going to install a suitable tower(s) with cross arms for the birds to built new nests in that area. Did it happen?

The restaurant loves their birds, so far, but don't know too much about them.

Richard

[turtleman]

While thinking about the power company tearing down the nests of the Monk Parakeets at WRL, I wondered if an introduced species has any standing in the protected species program which I assume would prevent destroying the occupied nests of that bird.

Also, would an introduced species that has established a breeding and expanding population such as the Eurasian Collared Dove be protected even though it can be shot during hunting season? How about the Eurasian Tree Sparrow which has been introduced but has been established for over 100 years but in a very tiny part of the country? How about "game" birds which I assume are protected for at least part of the year?

I guess my question concerns the criteria used to establish a protected species and what species are now considered non-protected in the U.S.?

I bet Jim P. could shed some light on these questions.

Richard

[betsy]

Species protection info:

Richard, I've discovered that individual states have their own legislation about protection and non-protection of certain species, but the overriding legislation is contained in various international treaties protecting birds, particularly neotropical migrants, that are native to the western hemisphere. The federal legislation that incorporates the species mentioned in these treaties is called the Migratory Bird Treaty Act -- here's a link to the list of protected species. You'll note that there are no introduced European or Eurasian species on it, and neither is the Monk Parakeet, becasue it isn't a migratory species.

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/in...a/mbtandx.html

Specific list of game birds:

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/in...ta/gmebrd.html

On page three of this pdf file regarding proposed additions to the list you'll note a section about the criteria used for inclusion, which generally involve being listed in trreaties with other countries: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/fe...20proposed.pdf

The page that includes these and other links: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/in.../mbtintro.html
Note the link at the bottom to a comparison with other protective legislation (not limited to birds), namely the Endangered Species Act, which covers species at risk in the US, and CITES, which prohibits importation of various species that are at risk in their native lands.

And here's a guide to the various protective laws, although a number of the links don't work any more: http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/in.../treatlaw.html

And then, for example, here's a summary of the protective legislation enacted by the state of New Mexico (found by googling New Mexico protected birds, so you could use that sort of search parameter for any other state you were interested in as well). A state can add protection that doesn't occur in the MBTA, or duplicate such protection, but it cannot remove such protection.
http://ipl.unm.edu/cwl/statbook/newmex.html

Monk Parakeet Info:

East Lawther is correct -- these are normally communal nests (with several separate nest chambers) that have their entrances on the sides or bottom, which prevents raptors from getting in. Raptors may even build a nest on top of a Monk Parakeet apartment house -- here's one with an Osprey nest on top: http://www.monkparakeet.com/florida/.../flmonk27b.jpg
(That was picture #27 from this site: http://www.monkparakeet.com/florida/slideshow2/)

The Monk as invader (best info on their biology, too):
http://invasions.bio.utk.edu/invader...tml#Literature

A fan site that gives their legal status in the various states:
http://www.monkparakeet.com/index1.htm

Here's the Monk Parakeet page on a wildlife-caused outages site, which is worth exploring -- there are some very entertaining reports with photos on other pages:
http://www.wildlifeoutages.com/monk.html

(My two favorite pages from this site)
http://www.wildlifeoutages.com/photos.html
http://www.wildlifeoutages.com/cases.html

[turtleman]

Betsy, thanks for the list of links that directed me to almost more than I want to know about protected species.

Also I enjoyed the links to the Monk Parakeets. Google is a wonderful source for anything you want know no matter how obscure. Sometimes I forget how great it really is.

Richard

[EastLawther]

I first saw the monk parakeets shortly after the film, Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. The film left me sympathetic; they are an invasive species, yet they are a wild (feathery, if not fuzzy) animal. Somehow deserving since they survive. Certainly more attractive than starlings and house sparrows. I understand why the neighbors, near white rock lake, feed them.

These birds have the potential to be destructive. But at this point, not much to do but, as their number grow, watch it happen.

About the "despite the markers" remark I made. The power company has placed informative signs, about the monk parakeetes, at the base of the transformer-thing, near the pump station, on White Rock Lake. It was if they were embracing them, instead of fighting them. But I think they were fighting them.

Incidentally, I saw Monk Parakeets in the French Quarter, New Orleans, La, earlier this year. They are all over the country.

They are easy to identify in flight. They have long tails, flap a lot, fly in groups of at least two or three, and seem to squawk constantly. I find it unnecessary to look up when I hear them; the noise they make as they fly over is enough to identify them as monk parakeets.

[EastLawther]

A reply to my own reply. About protection and migratory game species. As this hasn't gotten weird enough.

I just moved back to Texas from New York and Connecticut (yes, it's good to be back). Up in Yankee-land, they have a problem with tame Canada Geese. These geese live year round, in city parks and industrial parks. The problem is that the birds eat grass and poop massive amounts on the lawns, to where one doesn't dare have a picnic, much less walk on the sidewalk/path.

These geese originate from stock released innocently enough, by local hunting and fishing clubs, wishing to replenish the stock. Unfortunately, geese have to be taught to migrate. The farm raised stock never learned, so they naively stay put.

This species is a federally protected migratory game bird. Big penalties to remove them. I believe the loop hole was to declare a hunting season when the wild, migratory birds are not around.

Food for thought.

[karalennox]

I made a trip up to Addison to hunt down the Monk Parakeets. Well, they're certainly not hard to find! They are LOUD. I stood under the nest for a while as three of them chattered at me. Two flew off, then two more swooped out from inside the nest.

I was surprised they would choose such a strange location. This intersection is completely, totally developed with businesses, and the intersection is extremely busy. The nest is not that far up and very, very close to people walking and driving.

Anyway, it was a treat to see them so close. What beautiful birds, and big, too. ("Parakeet" is misleading.") I also got a bonus treat, a pair of collared doves sitting on the telephone wire close by. Guess the imports are hanging out together!