Wildlife
Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 2:29 pm
There are parrots outside my window.
This would not be surprising if I lived in the tropics, but I live on Long Island, about fifty miles east of New York City.
They're Monk Parrots, as seen in the pictures below. Supposedly a shipment escaped from captivity at JFK airport in the late 1960s and have been thriving here, despite the colder climate, and gradually extending their range.
They're pretty to look at - vivid green, with off-white bellies - but they are very noisy and they show up in groups of six to ten at a time and hang out in one particular tree in my yard and squawk at each other and at the other birds and the squirrels.
Oh, and we now have a couple of black squirrels in the neighborhood, too. And egrets. And a blue heron. And a goshawk. And even an osprey. This is in addition to the usual squirrels, opossums and racoons we're used to seeing. My little suburban neighborhood is turning into wild kingdom.


This would not be surprising if I lived in the tropics, but I live on Long Island, about fifty miles east of New York City.
They're Monk Parrots, as seen in the pictures below. Supposedly a shipment escaped from captivity at JFK airport in the late 1960s and have been thriving here, despite the colder climate, and gradually extending their range.
They're pretty to look at - vivid green, with off-white bellies - but they are very noisy and they show up in groups of six to ten at a time and hang out in one particular tree in my yard and squawk at each other and at the other birds and the squirrels.
Oh, and we now have a couple of black squirrels in the neighborhood, too. And egrets. And a blue heron. And a goshawk. And even an osprey. This is in addition to the usual squirrels, opossums and racoons we're used to seeing. My little suburban neighborhood is turning into wild kingdom.


