Two surviving and formerly homeless Quaker parrots displaced by United Illuminating's wild parrot eradication campaign found safe haven in Julie Cook's artificial nest on January 18th, 2005. Photo by Joanne Smith.
Though Monk Parakeets are exotics and there is fear they may displace native species, one should never forget that cruelty to one species sets a precedent that cruelty to any creature is acceptable. There are always other options.
The following, courtesy of Steve Baldwin of Brooklyn Parrots. (see links)
Yankee Ingenuity Trumps Cruelty in Connecticut
During the darkest moments of the Connecticut Quaker Parrot Crisis of 2005, Julie Cook's example gave pro wild parrot activists strength. When United Illuminating came for the parrots she knew and loved in West Haven, she refused to step aside. Instead, she actively blocked the "death squad", and was promptly handcuffed, fingerprinted, and locked up for the night. Only after it was discovered that she had not been read her Miranda rights was Julie freed.
Two months later, a lot has happened in Connecticut. United Illuminating, pressed by a lawsuit, has temporarily stopped killing the parrots. Citizens are building artificial nesting platforms designed by Marc Johnson. And yesterday: wonder of wonders, a pair of the displaced parrots decided to take up residence right in the artificial nest that Julie built in her yard: the first birds to do so in West Haven. This development isn't just a beautifully poetic event for Julie and the birds she likely saved from the gas chamber. The success of artificial nesting platforms in Connecticut is likely to inspire further development of artificial nesting platforms - not by expensive consulting firms, well-endowed universities, or profit-through-the-roof energy companies - but by private citizens who love birds and want to help them.
Coming Soon- Artificial Nesting Platforms for Urban Red-tailed Hawks
Donegal Browne
2 comments:
Thank you for these wonderful, though also saddening, stories of monk parakeets. That anyone could tolerate destroying such a bird is beyond understanding. The Connecticut Audubon Society acted shamefully.
Speaking of the Audubon Society, I asked the local RI green energy place, New England Green Start, about their wind sources, having myself lived in California and knowing about the terrible record of the Altamont, CA wind farm for killing birds, and they said the wind farms they buy from/support were all approved by the RI Audubon Society. Does anyone know if the RI Audubon Society's blessing is worth diddlie squat in this regard?
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