By Jennifer Jenkins
On a sunny Saturday in early November, a tour group cautiously crept closer to a company of nearly 50 wild parrots that were grounded in a Brooklyn park, enjoying an afternoon snack. The tourists were nearly upon the birds when a huge hawk swooped down, causing the parrots to fly off.
“I couldn’t have planned it better,” recounted Stephen Baldwin, the tour leader, with delight in his voice. “It was like ‘Wild Kingdom!’”
How the emerald green birds got to Brooklyn remains somewhat of a mystery. The most popular legend says the parrots – which are native to Argentina – escaped when a crate was accidentally opened at John F. Kennedy International Airport some time in the late 1960s. The birds managed to make their way across Jamaica Bay, before some ended up in Brooklyn. In the 1970s, the state attempted to eradicate the birds, killing hundreds, but some of the parrot colonies simply relocated.
Since 2005, Baldwin has run a blog specifically dedicated to Brooklyn’s Quaker Parrots, brooklynparrots.com, and gives free wild parrot “safari tours.” The parrot enthusiast said he first got interested in the feral birds after happening across a group of people protesting the removal of two Manhattan hawk nests in 2005. Baldwin joined the protest that day – which would go on to become a high profile and successful case – and became so interested in urban birds that he began researching and blogging about the Quaker parrots.
“I went out to Brooklyn College one day, and was amazed by the robust, chattering colony I found there,” said Baldwin, who has even created a song dedicated to the birds called “The Ballad of the Brooklyn Parrots.”
Baldwin eventually moved to Bay Ridge to be closer to the large colony there that has occupied stadium light fixtures at Leif Ericson Park for years. Local community leaders took the birds under consideration during the renovation of the infamous “Dust Bowl,” the park’s formerly worn-down baseball field. The birds’ nests were protected during construction so as not to interfere with their breeding season. Bird advocates successfully lobbied for new platforms to be included in the final renovation.
The wild birds may soon get respite in the form of legislation, as lawmakers in Albany consider a bill that would protect them. The Monk Parakeet, also known as the Quaker Parrot, has made its presence known in at least three of New York City’s boroughs, with its bright green color and distinctive cawing. In Brooklyn, the birds have long-standing colony nests in Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst and Greenwood, and can also be found near Brooklyn College.
“I always feel better about everything after I see the parrots,” Baldwin said. “It’s powerful, and it’s striking, especially in a city like this, to see how these animals have adapted to living here.”
For years the feral parrots have been subject to poaching and the destruction of their nests, and currently receive no protection as the state has designated them an “invasive” species. Sen. Joseph P. Addabbo Jr., a Democrat from western Queens, has sponsored a bill that would remove that designation and recognize that the birds should be protected.
This legislation comes on the heels of a City Council bill introduced in 2009 by Tony Avella, who was then representing a district in Queens; that measure is still being considered. If the legislature’s bill is approved, this would mark the first official protection of the species, whose large nests make them unpopular with some. The New York Audubon Society estimates that 400 to 500 of the birds are spread across the city’s boroughs. There is currently no fine for poaching the parrots. While some people try to catch the birds to keep as pets, most poachers are believed to be people planning to try and sell the birds to pet stores.
Baldwin said that while poaching remains less of a concern these days, the parrots have faced a series of nest teardowns recently.
“Though they are certainly ‘introduced,’ I personally don’t feel like the parrots deserve the ‘invasive’ label,” said Baldwin, who added that he is hopeful the legislation will successfully progress in the fall. “These parrots are very special, and we should treat them with a basic level of respect.”
Barry Schwartz, a geologist with the city’s department of design and construction, runs a non-profit parrot-rescue group based in the Maspeth section of Queens and helped brainstorm the legislation currently being considered by the state.
“It’s easy to blame the Quakers,” Schwartz said of the birds, who have been accused of disrupting electricity service by nesting atop light and transmission poles. “But we’ve sent legislators proof that the birds are not invasive, they don’t displace other bird species and they never attack humans.”
“To make it simple,” Schwartz added, “They do their own thing.”
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