Look up!!!

by

Dina Rossi,

Kristen McQuillen,

Herno Valcin,

Joyce Carter

Life Science for the Elementary School Teacher General Science 604.3T - Fall 1999
Professor Miele

Welcome educators, parents, students, and inquiring minds! The goal of this web page is to connect interested bird watchers of all kinds to fascinating facts about our friends, the Monk Parakeets. Below you will find recent data and information regarding the location of Monk nests in the Brooklyn College vicinity. We are studying the location of nests, approximate size, and other interesting facts about the homes of these curious critters in our science education graduate class. We are teachers enrolled in a Masters program at Brooklyn College for elementary science and environmental education. Our professor asked us to design an inquiry-based research assignment on our local friends, the Monk Parrots.

MONK PARROT BACKGROUND
Monk Parrots are of South American origin. The species name is Myiopsitta monachus and the bird is 8 to 12 inches in length. They can be identified by their light gray head and neck, bright green body, and dark blue primary feathers. Their native tropical habitat can be found in the following countries: Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, and Brazil. Monk Parrots live in the canopy of trees in open tropical areas, savannas, and in woodland areas of these countries. Their bulky nests are constructed of thorny twigs. The size of the nests depends on the supporting structure. The birds spend most of their time "fixing" their nests and are most active building their nests in the late spring. When starting to build a nest, the birds will begin with the floor, then construct sides and a roof. The entrances into the nests, or chambers, can mostly be found in the lower region of the nests.
Monk Parrots are found today in over fifteen states in the United States. These amazing creatures have adapted to much colder habitats like the winters of Chicago and more native climates like in Florida. They are "popping" up in the strangest places. They have been spotted in the Brooklyn College area since the early 1980s.

HYPOTHESIS QUESTIONS

After researching information about Monk Parrots on several web pages and studying them on our campus, we created hypothesis questions. How many Monk Parrot nests can we find on and around the Brooklyn College campus? How large are the nests? What type of structures were the nests built in?

PROCEDURE

    Our group met on Saturday, September 18, 1999 at the Brooklyn College campus. We walked around the campus and documented each Monk Parrot nest that was found using binoculars. Some were found in trees, others were found on buildings and light poles. While observing the nests, we looked at several variables. We noticed how close the nests were to others in the area. We also noticed the social behavior of the birds upon arrival and departures of the nests, and the environment around the nests.
    The group met again on Monday, October 11,1999. On this day we mapped out the streets surrounding the Brooklyn College campus. We studied the radius of the area extending from Ditmas Avenue and Avenue D to Avenue L, and from East 39th street to 18th Avenue (see map below). While observing the neighborhood on this day we observed the following variables: street location, time of day, number of nests, approximate size of nests, proximity of nests to each other, social behavior of birds upon arrival at and departure from nest, type of structure nests are found in, height of structure, and how many birds were observed. We estimated all nest sizes and heights of structures.
    After we observed our information, we created a chart to organize our information. See chart below.

OBSERVATIONS AND DATA

Observations and Data of Monk Parakeet Nests in the Brooklyn College Area

Location of Nests	Time	Date	# of Nests in Area	Size of Nest Height-Width-Depth	Type of Structure Nest Found In	Height of Nest from Ground	Description of Local Environment	Proximity of Neighboring Nests	Social Behavior Observed
East 21st between Campus rd. and Glenwood (closer to Campus)	11:20 a.m.	10/24	1	1"/2"/.5"	tall, bushy, pine tree	35 feet	Partly residential side street near college campus		5-8 birds were present - made noise when flying into nest area in pairs
Air conditioning vent on third floor of Ingersoll Hall-east side	2:00	10/11	1	NA	air conditioning vent	30 ft	college campus	NA	evidence of the nest was visible but we could not see entire nest
A tower at the Water Distribution Plant located off Avenue H-behind Brooklyn College Soccer field	3:40	10/11	3	NA	tall tower	45 ft.	open area near college campus	50 ft.	evidence of the nest was visible but we could not see entire nest
The corner of Avenue I and Bedford Avenue	12:00p.m.	10/11	1	3"/1.5"/1"	telephone pole-wooden	20 ft.	residential housing	1 block	3 or 4 Monks perched on nest- one with twig in mouth
The corner of Avenue I and East 26th Street	12:05p.m.	10/11	1	2"/2.5"/1.5	wooden telephone pole	20 ft.	residential housing	1 block	none
The corner of Avenue I and East 27th Street	12:10p.m.	10/11	1	2"/1.75"/1"	wooden telephone pole	20 ft.	residential housing	1 block	none
The corner of Avenue I and East 28th Street	12:17p.m.	10/11	1	1.75"/2"/1"	wooden telephone pole	20 ft	residential housing	1 block	2 or 3 birds making noise
The corner of Avenue J and East 28th Street	12:30p.m.	10/11	1	1.5"/1.5"/1"	wooden telephone poles	20 ft.	residential housing	2 blocks	none
Brooklyn College Soccer Field-Campus Road side on the end	3:10p.m.	10/11	5 in area	2.5"/4"/1.5"	field lamppost	75 ft.	soccer field	60 ft.	2 or 3 birds flying in and out of nest
Brooklyn College Soccer Field -Campus Road side in the middle	3:15p.m.	10/11	5 in area	2"/3"/1.5"	field lamppost	75 ft.	soccer field	60 ft.	2 birds sitting on nest poking at twigs
Brooklyn College Soccer Field-Campus side at end by Ave. H	3:22p.m.	10/11	5 in area	2"/4"/1.75"	field lamppost	75 ft.	soccer field	60 ft.	none
Brooklyn College Soccer Field-Field Library side next to academic building	3:27p.m.	10/11	5 in area	2"/4"/1.5"	field lamppost	75 ft.	soccer field	60 ft.	heard noises coming from nest
Brooklyn College Soccer Field-Field Library side next to library	3:30p.m.	10/11	5 in area	.75"/1.5"/.5"	field lamppost	75 ft.	soccer field	60 ft.	none
In a tree located off Avenue H and behind soccer field	3:40	10/11	4	1"/1.5"/.75	tree	27 ft.	near open field - a few trees in area	2-3 ft.	none
In a tree located off Avenue H and behind soccer field	3:42	10/11	4	1"/1"/1"	tree	25 ft.	near open field - a few trees in area	2-3 ft.	none
In a tree located off Avenue H and behind soccer field - closer to power plant	3:45	10/11	4	1.25"/1"/.5"	tree	25 ft.	near open field- a few trees in area	15 ft.	none

BROOKLYN COLLEGE VICINITY MAP

CONCLUSIONS

Type of Structure
According to our literature research and own observations, we concluded that Monk Parakeet nests are generally built in tall structures. We spotted nests in lampposts and building structures that measure anywhere from 20-75 feet high. According to Peter Mott, nests can be built in lampposts that are anywhere from 25-60 feet high. In our findings 5 nests were found in lampposts around the Brooklyn College Campus. We also found 8 nests on building structures such as air conditioners, telephone poles and window ledges. Research shows that nests can also be constructed on telephone poles, and microwave towers. "The nests are consistently found in parks and other open space habitats of cities and suburbs (Smith, Dwight G.)."
We also found nests in trees around the Brooklyn College Campus. In all, we spotted 3 nests in various trees. Our observations show that Monk Parakeets tend to build nests in structures that are in the open. Telephone poles in backyards were not observed to have any nests. The trees that were chosen had branches that were spread apart and sturdy. The building structures and lampposts were fairly spread apart from each other.

Size of Nests

    The nests in the Brooklyn College area ranged in sizes from about 1 foot in width to up to 4 feet wide. The depth of these nests also ranged from .5 feet to 2 feet in depth. Most of the nests observed in the Brooklyn College area fell in between the above ranges. In researching Monk Parrots on the Internet, we found that the average diameter of nests ranged from 1-5 feet according to Mark F. Spreyer and Enrique H. Bucher in their 1998 article in "The Birds of North America." Spreyer and Bucher also found nests averaging between 1-20 chambers per nests depending on the strength and support of the structure nests were built on.
    Our group also noticed a connection between the size of the nests and the number of chambers. We found evidence of 7 to 8 chambers in the larger nests. We were able to estimate this number because we visually confirmed 5 to 6 chambers using binoculars and saw pairs of birds enter in 2 to 3 different areas on the top of these nests. The height of these nests hindered our ability to confirm these findings.
    The nests with a smaller diameter of 1 to 2 feet contained only 1 or 2 visible chambers. In the July 1997 issue of Scientific American, it states that each separate chamber shelters at least 6 monk parrots. This information leads us to report that the nests on the Brooklyn College Campus house from 6 to 48 birds per nest depending on the number of chambers. For a picture of a typical nest click here.

LOCATIONS Of NESTS
On November 24th, we went back to observe the nests again. We noticed that the nests on the corner of Avenue I and Bedford Avenue had grown in size. We also noticed that some of the original nests found were missing! The nest in the tower at the Water Distribution Center seemed to be missing but we still saw birds flying in the area. We could not confirm that there still was a nest. Subsequent observations showed no evidence of nest rebuilding at this site. Our original findings led us to believe that there were 16 nests in the Brooklyn College area, but we can confirm that we now (11/24/99) only have evidence of 15 Monk nests. There was a recent siting of a Monk nest in a neighboring area on Remsen Avenue between Avenue K and L during the month of November. We have not yet explored this new finding.

What questions remain unanswered?

Where else in Brooklyn can we find Monk Parrot nests?

Where else in the Tri-State area can we find Monk Parrot nests?

How long have existing nests been there?

Will all these nests survive the winter?

Will there be more nests next spring?

Do these birds interact with other colonies in Brooklyn?

What problems did you encounter?

We were not able to verify the exact number of chambers and entrances because of the height of the nests.

We couldn't view the top of the nests.

Due to time constraints it was difficult to track the number of birds arriving and departing the nests.

What would you set up as a follow-up study?

Compare the findings of our classmates.

Search other areas for other nest findings and plot everyone's nest findings on a larger Brooklyn map.

Do the same exact study next year and compare the results.

How would our results compare to other sites?

Dwight G. Smith supported our findings on where nests are found and the types of structures in which they are found. He also gave us Central Park as a new location.

Mark Cohen supported our findings on the height of structures in which nests were found.

Speyer and Bucher confirmed our hypothesis of the number of birds per chamber.

Our findings were similar to the research of the above Naturalists and Scientists, however they were more thorough in their observations, research, and conclusions.

What are the implications of your results regarding the status of Monk Parakeet as an invasive species?
Our results can not support or deny that the Monk Parakeets are affecting the existing species within the Brooklyn College area. We believe we would need to have more information about the area before the Monk Parakeets settled in this area. This information could then be compared to the information that we have gathered about the area in the present. We could further compare the results in the future. We did observe that in interaction with the local pigeon population, the Monks tended to feed cooperatively in a mixed flock with the pigeons. However, we also noticed competitive behavior when these birds interacted around nest sites. The pigeons seemed to try to enter the Monk nests located on air conditioners and the Monks aggressively defended them.

REFERENCES

Books

Hilty, Stephen, Birds of Tropical America: A Watchers Introduction to Behavior, Breeding and Diversity, Chapters Publishing Ltd., Shelburne, VT, 1994.

Juniper, T. & Parr, M., Parrots: A guide to parrots of the world, Yale University Press, New Haven, US. 1998.

Mittlebach, Margaret & Crewdson, Michael, Wild New York: A guide to the Wildlife, Wild Places, and Natural Phenomena of New York. Three Rivers Press, NY 1998 (163).

Stap Don, Parrot Without a Name: The Search for the Last Unknown Birds on Earth, Alfred A.Knopf, New York. 1990.

Thaxton, John, New York's Fifty Best Places to go Birding In and Around the Big Apple. City & Company, NY 1998. p.
42).

Web Sites

http://www.birdsofna.org/excerpts/monk.htm/, Monk Parakeet. 1998.
Bucher, Enrique H. & Speyer, Mark F., Birds of North America (monk Parakeets), No 322, 1998. (History and social habit of monk parakeets in and outside North America.

http:// www.monk parakeet.com./about.htm
Carr, Kathleen, Feral Monk Parakeet: A look at monk parakeets colonies in North America.

http://birding.mningco.com/library/weekly/aa08089.htm
Lawson, Michelle, Monk Parakeets in the U.S. Today. 8/8/98. a look at how the parrot a tropical bird is adapting to life in Northern US.

http:/monkparakee.com/fl.htm
Van Door, Annamaria, Monks as an established introduced species in Florida. An ongoing survey of feral monk parakeet colonies in North America.

Articles:

Coven, Mark Francis, High above Brooklyn College, "It's a Paradise for Parakeets", New York Times. 6/23/96, vol. 145,
issue 50467, section 23p10,3bw. Reports on the Settlement of Monk Parakeets at Brooklyn College.

Smith, Dwight G., Parrots Abroad, World & I, Nov. 93, vol. 8 issue 11, p200,6p, 6c. Reports on the Flocks of Monk Parakeets Thriving in Urban Areas in the US.

Zorpette, Glenn, Parrots and Plunder, Scientific American, July, 1997, (p. 22-25). A Look at How monk Parakeets Have Become a Growing Addition to the Fauna of Many U.S. Towns and Cities