"jmcquown" wrote in message
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"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote in message
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"jmcquown" wrote in message
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wrote in message
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Pretty amazing!
Fortunately this post is completely off-topic, and there are no
cats in it. 
http://www.brighthub.com/pets/birds/articles/92107.aspx
Joyce
This is wonderful! Parrots can indeed be amazing (I miss Peaches! who
is a lovebird, not a Quaker parrot, but they look remarkably similiar).
One thing I don't understand is the article says "Quaker parrots are
deemed "illegal Avians" in Colorado and 13 other states, a little known
battle that has been waging between the states and the federal
government." Why on earth would Quaker parrots be illegal?
Jill
They are considered to be a threat to native birds, and there are fears
that they may become agricultural pests. There are some states where
they are legal to own but illegal to sell or breed, and some states
prohibit ownership of quaker parrots.
MaryL
That's nuts! Most people I know don't let their parrots fly around loose
outside. They're expensive birds so that would be reckless indeed. I'm
not saying they can't escape, lots of pet birds do. I got my first
parakeet when I was 3 years old because someone wasn't paying attention
and the bird got out. My brother caught him down by the creek in the
backyard in Virginia. He was a blue pied parakeet and had a broken beak.
I named him Robinson Crusoe.
I seriously doubt small parrots like a Quaker would harm native birds or
crops. Agricultural pests? What, native birds don't eat whatever they
can find? Tell that to the crows in my back yard. LOL I'm pretty sure
they're picking their way through the tomato fields a few miles from here.
Jill ---loves cats and birds alike
There are feral colonies of parakeets in many countries, including the U.S.
They may have escaped from homes, been released deliberately, or
accidentally been released during shipment. We already have a number of
bird species that were imported (deliberately or accidentally), and which
have taken over the habitat of native species. Some agricultural students
fear that this could happen with quaker parrots because they seem to adapt
and breed readily when they are released.
We had parakeets (one at a time) when I was a child, and I love them. My
parents had pictures of a parakeet perching on the sides of my glasses while
I was reading. Some years later, my parents began to raise chickens (8,000
at a time), and my father made the comment that it was probably good that we
no longer had parakeets because they are known carriers of coccidiosis. It
could have been disastrous if we carried disease from pet birds in the house
to the chickens.
I was not aware until recently that quaker parrots are illegal or limited in
some states, and I don't know how much of this is reality and how much may
be exaggerated fear. Here are a fewsites that describe feral colonies in
the U.S.
http://www.brooklynparrots.com/2005/...-doing-in.html
http://www.eparrots.biz/feral.html
http://www.biology.uco.edu/PersonalP...ams_butler.pdf
This article was developed by an author who has attempted to dispel some of
those fears (which he considers unwarranted and unreasonable):
http://monkparakeet.com/index1.htm
Incidentally, I often think that my grandfather (who farmed from early 1900
until his death in 1953) was "ahead of his time." Other farmers used all
sorts of techniques to get rid of birds that were "stealing their grain"
from the fields. My grandfather planted extra grain "for the birds." He
said birds were worth their weight in gold because of all the insects they
ate. Likewise, he mounted a bat house on the side of my grandparents' house
instead of taking steps to destroy them.
MaryL