GP in Woodmere reports: I was stunned a couple of mornings ago as I was walking to the train on my way to work to see 10-12 parrots in a tree eating berries. From down the street I heard popping noises (the berries?!) and looked up to see rather large birds. As I got closer I saw they were parrots. A woman who works in the store in front of the tree out front of where I saw them said they had been coming there once a year for a number of years.
Not phased by many things I must say I was astonished by the
experience. I have lived on Long Island all my life (45 years) and have
never encountered them before. In my search to find out where these
birds came from I came across your site and thought I would share my
experience.
They are cool aren’t they? Parrots live here year round, so if you are seeing them now it’s probably because they are heading out further to find food. If she puts a feeder up they will certainly use it! Thanks for sharing your experience.
There is a huge parrot nest on the bay in Amityville. It’s on a metal tower (radio tower?) My boyfriend is working on a construction job in the area and saw it. When he told me he saw green parrots flying around I laughed at him, thinking, there are no wild parrots on Long Island! I’m a bird watcher and I had never heard about these parrot sightings. Guess I was wrong!
I have seen this nest and I’m a little concerned about it. These birds don’t migrate, 40 or so can occupy the nest and it ultimately weighs a couple hundred pounds. My concern is at some point in time someone may want to move them. If your boyfriend gets wind of any “ideas” to relocate the nest, please have him email me.
I have just spotted a wild parrot on my back yard birdfeeder…My birdfeeder usually attracts small birds…This parrot is really too big for this feeder…It is a gloomy day and I took some bad pictures…I have never seen such a pretty bird living in the wild…At first I thought it must be a lost bird, but after a little researching, I soon discovered it looks exactly like these wild parrots of New York…I live in Pennsylvania….Have they been spotted in my state before?
Hi Jenny,
They must be, because Pennsylvania has pretty much adopted a no tolerance law regarding the Quakers. This quote is from a March 2008 post from BrooklynParrots.com:
“Quaker Parrots are illegal in California, and when one recently escaped, was sent to a shelter, and the authorities were notified, it seemed that certain death lay ahead (Pennsylvania and California both have “instant kill” policies for wild Quaker Parrots.”
I will also add here that many exotic birds either escape or are let go. So Jenny’s bird could be a Wild parrot, or a domesticated one that simply got away. Wild parrots usually travel in pairs, sometimes packs. So if you don’t see any others, that could be this case with this little guy.
Here’s a link to Jenny’s parrot
We have had a colony of parrots living on my block in Amity Harbor for as long as I have lived here- (11 years). There are about 15 of them and they stay here year round, nesting in the electrical box on a pole. Apparently they are Quaker Parrots and are very common along the southshore of Long Island.
From Jeannette in Glen Cove
I would like to ask anyone out there if they ever saw a wild parrot on the North Shore and if so, where. I would love to see them. If anyone would let me know, I would really apprecite it.
I saw the beautiful bright green parrots first in Fort Lee (Bergen County, NJ) last summer; this year they were right outside on my phone/cable lines in Teaneck, a neighboring town in northern NJ. I mentioned seeing them today to a friend, who showed me at least 6 parrot nests in Edgewater, NJ. They are truly beautiful.