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Don't know if this belongs in this forum, but like discussion some time ago about the northern/coldest limit of palm trees, I find it interesting reading up on how far north parakeets (escapees from captivity) have managed to live and survive, and start breeding populations.
There are a couple of cold-tolerant species that have escaped/released into cold areas they didn't live in originally. One is the Monk/Quaker Parakeet from southern South America that's now nesting in Europe as well as the US from Florida in places as cold as NYC.
There's also the Rose-ringed Parakeet (from Africa and India, including the Himalayan foothills) that's established in European places as cold as the Netherlands and the southern UK.
Amazing to see them in places that get freezing in the winter. I'm guessing folks who live in those cities might have seen them. I personally think it's a neat thing (if the birds don't have negative impacts; there were controversies over culling them for impact on native wildlife). It would brighten my day to see green, tropical birds chirping/singing away at the dead of winter.
There are a few populations of introduced parrots in NZ, Rosellas and lesser amounts of Lorikeets from Australia. The North Island seems to be an agreeable climate for them, but I'm surprised they survive in Dunedin, as that is near the bottom of the South Island. We have our own native parakeets here, which unfortunately aren't very common, I see them in the garden once a month or so and they add a bit of a "tropical" touch. We also have 3 parrot species including an alpine one( Kea) that lives in snow and a flightless one(Kakapo), which is the largest parrot.
Don't know if this belongs in this forum, but like discussion some time ago about the northern/coldest limit of palm trees, I find it interesting reading up on how far north parakeets (escapees from captivity) have managed to live and survive, and start breeding populations.
There are a couple of cold-tolerant species that have escaped/released into cold areas they didn't live in originally. One is the Monk/Quaker Parakeet from southern South America that's now nesting in Europe as well as the US from Florida in places as cold as NYC.
There's also the Rose-ringed Parakeet (from Africa and India, including the Himalayan foothills) that's established in European places as cold as the Netherlands and the southern UK.
Amazing to see them in places that get freezing in the winter. I'm guessing folks who live in those cities might have seen them. I personally think it's a neat thing (if the birds don't have negative impacts; there were controversies over culling them for impact on native wildlife). It would brighten my day to see green, tropical birds chirping/singing away at the dead of winter.
I know little about tropical birds/parakeets. However, I know that the Monk Parakeet is found up and down the East Coast from Florida to southern Connecticut. Supposedly, they they can make anywhere the temps get above freezing in winter. Coastal Connecticut/Long Island/coastal New Jersey/Delaware are as far north as they are found on the East Coast as far as I know. I see them very often along the Connecticut coast (often they nest in winter in our bamboo grove).
As far as where they come from/how they got this far up the East Coast…the answer gets more foggy. I first started noticing them in the late 1980’s. The first story was the birds got caught up in the eye of Hurricane Gloria (1985) as the hurricane swept past the Bahamas and stayed in the eye of the hurricane until it made landfall on Long Island. Once I researched more, I read they have been seeing Monks around the Middle East Coast/NYC since the 1960’s…so the Hurricane Gloria theory was wrong. Then I read the birds got loose in the 1940’s in NJ and started breeding in the middle Atlantic coast. The last thing I read is that the Monks come from South America and winter on the East Coast – and have been doing so for 200 years. So who really knows?
I see your up in Canada, if you ever go to NYC, just drive along the coastline winter or summer and you’ll see them. They seem to be concentration the heaviest along the Connecticut coastline in the marshes near Long Island Sound. They are pretty to look at all year…but they do make a racket when they are in my bamboo grove and their nests are HUGE (lol).
Well the only place in the U.S. with native parrots is the EXTREME southern tip of Texas, encompassing
Brownsville, 2 species are native, the Green Parakeet(Aratinga holochlora) and the Red Crowned Amazon(Amazona viridigenalis).
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