by Kim Calcagno

Rhode Island's little green aliens.

Bullocks Point Avenue, Riverside, East Providence

Okay, they're green and gray, but whether you think they're endearing or downright scary, there is no doubt that if you've been invaded, you know it. These aliens are Monk parakeets, and they've been living in wild, slow-roving colonies in Rhode Island since 1973.

Standing twelve inches tall, these pudgy-cheeked birds are also known as Quaker parakeets, Quaker conures, and gray-headed or gray-breasted parakeets. Their religious-sounding names come from their coloration. The contrast of the lime-green back and forehead with the dusty gray of the chin and chest resembles a face peering out of the hooded robes worn by the religious orders in the South American countries from which these birds hail.

The birds are native to the eastern Andean lowland regions of South America, from Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay to southern Brazil. During the 1960s and '70s these cheery birds were imported by the thousands for the American pet trade. According to legend, the parakeets were accidentally released from a broken crate at JFK Airport in New York (although some Rhode Islanders believe that their birds arrived as the result of a similar accident on the tarmac at TF Green airport). Most experts will cite the New York airport release, but agree that the origin of most colonies is the result of irresponsible pet owners who, tiring of the noisy birds, release them into the wild.

They were first noted as an established population in New York in the 1960s. By the 1990s several states hosted stable populations, including New York, Texas, Delaware, New Jersey, Oregon, Virginia, Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri, Ohio, South Carolina, and Rhode Island. Because they are a sub-tropical species, they tend to live in the warmer regions of the south and the coastal regions of the north, where winter temperatures are somewhat milder. According to the DEM, Rhode Island's first confirmed wild Monk parakeet was seen on Block Island in 1973.

When these first wild populations were established, there was a deep concern among wildlife biologists that these exotic birds would become serious agricultural pests. Their diet changes seasonally and encompasses everything from flowers and buds in spring to fruits and insects in summer to grains and seeds in winter. It was thought they would proliferate and decimate grasses and trees wherever they went. In the 1970s the US Fish and Wildlife Service mounted a determined campaign to eradicate the species from the wild in the United States, nearly extirpating them. Over the years, however, the predicted widespread destruction of orchards and crop fields never surfaced, and the efforts to control them fell off. Some states have laws prohibiting them from being sold as pets, but that is usually the extent of the control measures. Many of the colonies have bounced back and are living quite happily.

That's not to say that they are a harmless, "naturalized" species. They are certainly a very noisy lot, first vocalizing at two days of age, even before their eyes open, and pretty much never shutting up after that. They have a wide array of screams, squawks, and quieter social calls. The close-quartered colonial nature of these birds elicits a nearly non-stop chorus of social noise from dawn to dusk.

They can also be lousy neighbors in other ways. Unlike their cavity-nesting brethren, they are the only parrot that builds a nest of sticks and twigs. The nests are impressive feats of avian architecture. They are round, dense condominiums constructed of finger-width sticks, sometimes reaching five hundred pounds, six feet in diameter, and housing colonies of up to thirty or more birds. Nests can dominate trees and envelop power poles. Nesting adults will clip branches from the surrounding trees to build their nests and strip bark to eat. Greedily emptying birdfeeders and consuming fruit from trees, they are found to be intolerably loud and obnoxious by many homeowners. Residents complain about the twigs strewn everywhere, the droppings, and the busloads of birdwatchers that come to view the colorful 'keets.

Authorities from the electrical utilities are not very fond of them either. Their massive and heavy nests have repeatedly been the cause of power outages and pole damage. On one occasion, Narragansett Electric reacted to the complaints of outages in the Riverside area of East Providence by removing several colonies and placing most of the birds with zoo workers, veterinarians, and bird fanciers. It was a multi-day effort to capture and find homes for the birds and haul off the massive nests (so large, they could only fit three nests in a truck bed at one time).

The state leaves the decision to remove or capture the birds to the landowners. Unlike native birds that enjoy the protection of the federal government, Monk parakeets fall under the category of "invasive exotic" and are in the company of several other alien birds, including pigeons (aka rock doves), European starlings, and English house sparrows, none of which are protected by law.

On the other hand, the monks certainly have their fans. Many residents fiercely protect "their" colonies and encourage them by adding birdfeeders to support the birds through harsh winter weather. While birders and gawking tourists are being shooed off some people's property, they are being welcomed by these parakeet "promoters" who will even bring visitors binoculars, or perhaps a glass of lemonade. They are happy to tell passers-by all about their precious birds and the best spots to watch them.

Over the years, colonies have been sighted at different times in Warwick, Cranston, Cumberland, Bristol, Barrington, Lincoln, and East Providence. After searching old newspaper articles, we went looking for them at Sabin Point, where one famed colony was supposed to reside. We could find no sign of them. Confused and frustrated, we drove around the close little streets of the Point with our heads out the windows, eyes cast skyward, looking for the tell-tale nest condos. The one thing we did not know was that the colonies will shift over time as nests get damaged in storms or simply collapse under their own weight. The mated pairs will disperse and begin constructing new nests in different spots. It turns out that the colony, now consisting of four nests, resides at the top of Bullock Neck, just south of the Crescent Park Carousel, and a short distance away from Sabin Point proper.

Update: On our last visit in late April 2006 we found only one nest, with at least four residents in evidence, on one of the telephone poles. We wonder if the disappearance of the other nests is due in part to the thinning out of the woods on the west side of the street, now part of Larisa Park.

Update: We received an email in early December 2006 letting us know that the above mentioned nest had fallen and that no birds were in evidence. That's too bad, but we're confident the parakeet colony has set up housekeeping elsewhere in the state. All we need is for you to let us know where. If you've seen parakeets nesting in other parts of the state, please drop us a line at stuffie@quahog.org and fill us in.

Update: Sydney from Barrington spotted a pair of monks chowing down at her birdfeeder on October 18, 2007. The location is on Annawamscutt Road near Allin's Cove in Barrington.

Update: Toby from near the carousel in Riverside reported in April 2008 that his birdfeeder was also being regularly raided by the "green giants." We took a look around the neighborhood and found one parakeet gnawing a twig in a tree in Larisa Park, and a pair building a new nest on one of the telephone poles in front of the condominium complex just south of the Crescent Park Carousel.

Update: On December 23, 2008 Sydney from Barrington "saw a monk parakeet on a bridal wreath bush right next to my feeder, which was full of other birds. It flew away; I never saw it get to the feeder. Again, this was on Annawamscutt Road in Barrington, near Allin's Cove."

Update: Chris from the Brookfield Road neighborhood in Riverside spotted a pair of 'keets chowing down at her backyard feeder on January 16, 2009. She noted to us that these were the first she'd seen since one dropped by for a bite over the summer.

The soapbox part

As a naturalist and biologist, I am constantly educating people about the impacts of invasive exotic plants like forsythia, purple loosestrife, European bittersweet, and Japanese barberry. There are lists and lists of plants that have been introduced to this country that outcompete our native species.

There are fewer species of animals that have been so introduced. The birds mentioned, as well as insects like the wooley adelgid and the Asian ladybug, are representative of some of these alien animals. Some of these invasive species get media attention when they have a negative impact. Hogweed is a good example of this. You may remember the news coverage about people breaking out in horrific inflammatory dermatitis from contact with this spreading invader. There are many more species that homeowners or municipalities purposely introduce onto their land, completely unaware of their noxious tendencies. Burning bush (winged euonymus), which spreads freely from landscaped areas to wild areas, is a good example.

Monk parakeets are one of the few examples of invasive exotics that have gotten a lot of media attention over the years, but have as much positive as negative coverage. Reporters love to play the parakeet lovers and haters off each other. There's nothing like stirring up controversy every once in a while to plump up the headlines on a slow day.

From my point of view as a biologist, they are indeed an invasive exotic. I sort of cringe at the idea of introducing non-native flora and fauna. I mean... look at the cane toad, kudzu, and phragmites! EEK! Haven't we humans learned our lesson yet?

The naturalist in me, however, can't help being amazed at these incredible birds. They are cute. They build amazing structures. They are survivors, and they help each other build nests and feed young. Truly they are fascinating. They are what we, in the environmental education field, call (dramatic chord) "charismatic megafauna." Nobody ever pays attention to the scuttling carrion beetle or the shiny lemon ant, but show us a colorful bird in a giant nest, and everyone will have an opinion.

Whatever you feel about them, Monk parakeets are part of Rhode Island now. Hopefully you will catch sight of one of these jewels or their colossal condos on your "ultimate Rhode Island road trip."

This article last edited February 17, 2009