Wild Quakers, my story and a big question!

Hi Wayne! No matter your background, these are captivating little birds. 

I don't hold myself out as an expert, and the best I can offer is an opinion based on a few things that I do know. But first I want to mention that anyone who would decimate a bird's nest in the spring may well be heartless. Since Quakers are considered an invasive species, they can be persecuted in ways that native species cannot, but removing them in the spring is cruel. End of editorial.

Quakers are hardy little things, and birds' feathers have remarkable insulating ability. But if you have extended periods of hard freezes, it will be very hard for them to find food and water, as it will be for the rest of the local population. That's true with or without nests. So a very harsh winter could take a toll, but I don't know how much difference the nest will make.

There are two things I'd worry about before winter arrives. One, I think they're much more vulnerable to predators, like hawks. Two, if any of them did manage to fledge a brood before the nest removal, the juveniles might be at a real disadvantage. Young parrots stay with their parents for a long time compared to most birds, and destroying their homes could really impact what/how they're able to learn from their parents. 

It's likely that they have tried, or will try, to rebuild somewhere close to where they were. I hope not on a power structure. I wish power companies were required to provide a suitable platform that the birds could build on whenever they remove them like that. 

Hi Wayne! I'm glad you've gained an interest in quakers! They're fascinating little creatures. Like Easttex I'm no expert but I have a large interest in ornithology and have tried to learn what I can so this is all based on my understanding.

This is a common issue with power companies. Quakers have been able to settle further north because not only are they more tolerable to the cold than other parrots but they are also the only ones that build nests; other parrots are cavity nesters. Despite being more cold hardy they are still parrots after all and so they're tropical and sub-tropical species. They are attracted to the transformers on the power lines because of the heat produced by them. They build their nests around the transformers because of this heat.

Quakers are communal nesters in which they build very large nests to support more than just a single clutch of young, they build their nests to support at least several pairs of birds along with their babies. These large nests are where the problem lies for the power companies as the nests can weigh as much as a couple hundred pounds. They don't want all that extra weight on their power lines where it could possibly cause a problem. Because of the fact that Quakers are non-native species and are considered invasive means the companies can do this.
I personally feel they shouldn't be allowed to destroy entire nests like that, not only because I have a Quaker myself but because I feel they aren't truly as invasive as is believed. They're from the sub-tropical areas around northern Argentina and the surrounding countries, they aren't exactly built to handle our climate to where they can spread around the country. Maybe if the power companies would at least in return provide a suitable nesting site for the Quakers to use instead of their transformers. If the birds can find a new source of warmth they may survive.

Welcome! Quaker parrots are remarkably adaptable and there are naturalized colonies of QPs in some very cold climates (Norway, for instance). Quakers have been living outdoors in places like Chicago, Illinois and Brooklyn, New York, for many years. The ones at Brooklyn College are very popular with the students who feed them pizza and french fries (not the ideal diet for a parrot, but it may help them survive in the wild).

I believe that in Florida, power companies are now required to relocate active Quaker nests. That should be true everywhere.

Hi Wayne and thank you for your story! In some places in America, the locals have also fallen in love with their colonies of Quakers and, in their back gardens, have provided long wooden poles with forks at the top and platforms around the fork on which the quakers can build nests. This does take a lot of effort and may not be suitable for you and your son, but it has been proven to work and quakers seem very happy to build their enormous palaces on these artificial trees. This obviously also helps the power companies as it means that fewer quakers tend to nest on the power pylons. Even if you can't do this yourself, if you are so inclined and able, it might be worth trying to encourage neighbours to do the same, thus providing the quakers with somewhere else to build their nests. A word of warning, in case you haven't already worked this out, Quakers are chatterboxes and they are LOUD, whole colonies of them are real gossips. However, when they go to roost in the evening, the nest should quieten as they won't want to attract night predators.

As I said, this might not be viable for you and your son, but it is something you can do to help the little birdies if you are able to. I would love to put up bird boxes all around where I live. We don't have parrots but there are lots of beautiful birds around here in the south of the UK. Unfortunately, we live in a block of flats and so don't have a garden, so we are unable to. Anyway, thank you again for writing and please do send us pictures of a nest when you manage to get a snap!

Glad to share a couple of pictures with others that only sees the indoor ones. I took them at 8:20 AM EST and saw no action at nest, but in the time I was looking a pair did fly nearby so I know the site is active. That leads me to a few other questions,
What would they be eating in a suburban area?
How far away do they roam from home?
To all that that has responded, I thank you and around here they will put up poles with platforms on top for Osprey. Both on the south shore and the north shore. Seeing Osprey fish is amazing to watch.

To bad I can't post the photos, I don't do facebook or the other photo holding sites. Only recently I lost all my photos that were hosted on a site that I could upload to and had a URL to post with. I need to find someone that could re-build what I had, my old pics are still on the web just hard to find and I can't upload anymore. it is a long story and has me sad as even the published short stories I wrote are just floating around. So if anyone wants to see these or better yet post them, email me at wjgrind2 at aol subject line parrots
Wayne



 

You might find this link interesting, Wayne. In the winter, they've likely been foraging at bird feeders. Other times, they can probably find enough seeds, greens, buds, berries, etc., from more natural sources. I've read that they are real homebodies. Even after leaving the nest and going out on their own, they'll most likely start their own families not far away. My guess is they'll first try to rebuild in the same area, but hopefully not in the same spot.
wildparrotsny.com/index/breedfacts.html

Another update, but not a sighting. I drove past the nest today and stopped to speak to the postman. He knew the Quakers well, he walked the route for 28 years. Told me there was a nest further up the road on a transformer. The nest caused a fire that one, killed all the nesting parrots and two the transformer blew and a good part of the neighborhood went dark. The nest that easttex posted for me the power company left as it would not cause any harm. So I hate to say but in some ways relocations should happen. JMO