Attracting Monk Parrots

The flock hangs out on the wires in front of house and waits. Here are two little quakers quaking up a storm to get fed by their parents.

And like all youngsters in the summer time, they hang out on the street and get into trouble.

Hanging on the street causing some friction.

..until they start getting the idea that it might be a little dangerous and should get out of there - especially when a car came by.

then they hang out on the wire again. Most of my pictures here are taken a Konica Minolta Maxximum5D -- unfortunately no longer made since Konica sold their camera business to Sony. I bought the camera because it fix my AF zoom lens from my old SLR. It takes great pictures but I have a lot to learn about exposure -- I'm continually getting dark birds with bright backgrounds or washed out birds with dark backgrounds.

This may not work but I'm going to try it. This is a little 15 second MOV of the quakers quaking. Mom or Dad, just seems to ignore them. I've only seen them get fed by a parent once in the trees. They little ones are nearly the same size as the adults so maybe their parents are trying to get them to feed on their own. I do seem the little guys come to the bird feeder but they don't yet seem to get that they need to fly down and eat the seed.

Well, it didn't work. Maybe I can upload it somewhere and put in a link.

Love to watch the purple martins, by the way. One of the great things to watch by the Causeway Bridge was the martin coming back in the evening. Not as many martins as pre katrina. Katrina got all my trees and my purple martin house, too.

Hi mrw31,
I drove by Mike Miley playground on David Drive a couple of days ago and looked over and saw their nest up in the lights. Very visible from David Drive. It is another huge one like the one on Veterans Blvd. I am amazed that they are getting in the street and playing around like that. They have really made themselves at home here and have become very comfortable. They look like overgrown parakeets and are strikingly beautiful. We don't have any in the LaPlace area, yet. They haven't made it that far west. Really nice photos, mrw31. My Martins just left here this week and I guess are headed to the Causeway to roost until going back to S.A. We had a bunch of them this year. More then usual.
David

There is another huge nest in a microwave tower on David Drive -- this one is between West Napoleon Ave. and Veterans Highway. I see these birds play in Lafreniere Park once in awhile.

They are so beautiful! Thanks for all the pics. Maybe I will see some one day near Houston.

flowerette - I have seen them in Kemah and on Bay area boulevard at I-45 sitting on some power lines in front of cafe express (if you are ever in southeast houston!)

Here's a new one --

Another stretching the wings

Beautiful shots mrw!!!

Gorgeous!

What a great thread you started here, mrw31! I haven't seen any of these parrots personally, but I have had friends locally who have seen parrots around central and the east coast of Florida. I figured it was pets that got loose. Now I am wondering if it is Monk Parrots. I wouldn't mind it if they came to visit my feeder. Very cool and all the photos here are awesome and very educational! Thanks for introducing me to these birds. I had NO idea about them! I will certainly be keeping a watch for them now that I know. :-)

Thanks for your comments, one and all. I've been getting a lot of parrent parrots with their young fledges lately. Since its hard to tell what sex a parrot is -- no special coloring or pattern to either sex - it's hard to tell who is the mother and who is the father. But I've read that they stay around in families for awhile. You can tell the younger parrots when they start to quake and I've typically seen groups of two youngsters with one parrot in the trees.

I am curious ... do they seem to be taking over your feeder(s) or are they sharing with the other local birds?

They share pretty well with other birds. They are really more aggressive with one another than with other birds. I routinely get a big flock of sparrows, lots of doves, squirrels, bluejays and a few cardinals. They all seem to get along pretty well. The parrots aren't a continuous presence -- the larger flock comes around just before dusk. I also see them in the morning.

Hurricane Katrina took down all the tall trees in my backyard, so I don't have a lot of cover for any bird -- the sparrows like my neighbors bushes along the fenceline. The parrots seem to want to be high up so they favor the powerlines in front of the house and the two big trees in my backyard neighbors lots.

Here's a picture I took of the flock on the ground -- there were a lot of other birds right before I took this picture, but a lot of them notice me and took off before I could snap the shot.

Oh that's awesome! Thanks for letting me know.

I just can't get over all those Monk Parrots you have! That is really cool! I wouldn't mind some in my yard. I get a lot of birds here too at my single feeder. Doves, Bluejays, Cardinals, Woodpeckers, and some I can't ID because I can't get a photo of them (they are shy). No small birds though. I feed the squirrels on the ground below the feeder. And it seems to attract some rodents to the ground feeders as well, so I get Owls at night. :-)

The only bird here that I worry will find my backyard is the Sandhill Cranes. If they find my feeder, they would probably destroy it because they are such large birds. LOL! They have been in my front yard, but have not discovered my backyard yet. Whew!

Parrots in the crepe myrtles again.

Another in the crepe myrtles

Thats such a beautiful sight!

Thanks for your kind comments.

Just a note to say that Hurricane Gustav didn't completely blow apart the monk parrot nests nearby. I returned back from my evacuation to find the flock in the street and waiting in the backyard. Obviously better than us humans in surviving high winds.

Thanks for the update. I had wondered how they had fared with Gustav's wind. Is most of their apartment-nest still intact? Hows yours?

I was also curious to know what would become of those nests way up high. Glad to hear they made it. The monks have been really active here the last few weeks; I see them everywhere! They seem to like all the fruit from the palms right now. I tried to record them squawking away in the trees with my phone, but it didn't come out too good.

Thanks for the update. How did you make out (your property)?

Next time you post about the parrots can you start a new thread? This is getting long.

Good to hear from you! ^_^

rntx22,
Just now reading your post re Kemah and Bay Area Blvd. Am in that area quite frequently and will be more observative for sure. Several years ago a pair of birds similar to these parrots landed on our chain link fence, and I have always wondered what they might be. Perhaps, they were these little guys. Thanks for the info.

Before Katrina, the parrots were just coming to my neighborhood in Gentilly, New Orleans. Since then, I've only spotted a pair of them this past Sunday. One was nosing around the feeder in my backyard, while the other was perched nearby in a tree. I came to this forum looking for ways to attract them to the feeder. I've been told to hang fruit on a string - apples & oranges. But you all are saying just the regular birdseed.

Right now, I have a lot of little sparrows who are really noisy & messy. I'm hoping they won't run away the parrots.
Jo-Ann