On Mon, 16 Sep 1996 jstewart at bogle.com wrote:

>
> At 4PM on Saturday, seven large Parrots flew around our yard
> (greenbelt). They perch every fall in our neighbors tree, and, we are
> told they will come to the feeders if nothing startles them. The
> crows didn't like them. Remind me what species I am looking at, into
> the bright sky, all I could say is they were green and big.
>
> You missed them John!
>
> Jane Stewart
>

Jane -- In the spring, I sent private e-mail to Michael Smith asking him
for information on the Seward Park parrots or parakeets, because I run
there several times a week with friends. In May, he kindly sent the
response below, which I think you will find interesting.

Jane Hadley
Seattle
jhadle at halcyon.com

These birds are definitely parakeets of the genus _Aratinga_, also known
popularly as conures. Almost everyone I've talked to in the pet trade
refers to them as conures. Parrots generally are larger and have blunt
popularly as conures. Almost everyone I've talked to in the pet trade
refers to them as conures. Parrots generally are larger and have blunt
tails, parakeets are generally smaller with long tails. There is some
confusion as to which species these belong to. We (myself, Fred Bird, and
Dennis Paulson) have narrowed it down to three possibilities:

Mitred Parakeet (Mitred Conure), _Aratinga mitrata_ (my guess is this one)
Scarlet-fronted Parakeet (Red-fronted Conure), _Aratinga wagleri_
Crimson-fronted Parakeet (Finsch's Conure), _Aratinga finschi_

If these were wild birds, it would probably be easier to ID their species.
But hybridization among subspecies and between species in captivity makes
it much more difficult. We may be left with only being able to say it's
one of the three, or a hybrid of some combination of the three.

The bold green/yellow/red underwing pattern of Crimson-fronted is not
apparent, and I would rule this species out as a possibility. I only
included it because this is how Dennis originally ID'd them. Though it
seems now they are unlikely to be Crimson-fronted. Then comes the
difficult task of determining whether they are Mitred or Scarlet-fronted.
The coloration seems more consistent with Mitred, and their preference for
tree cavity nesting strongly favors Mitred (Scarlet-fronteds nest on
cliffs colonially in rocky crevices). These birds have been noted
entering a tree cavity in Carkeek Park in the past (by John Wingfield) and
recently I noted one enter a tree cavity at Seward Park. You can watch
for this yourself next time you run there: the tree is right next to the
road which goes up to the top of the hill (where the bike races are).
It's on the left just before the sharp (almost 180-degree) turn when the
road is still two-laned. If you park at the first available parking area,
then walk the paved trail just behind the large group picnic area, you
will see a large broken-off tree to the N-NW. The cavity entrance is
clearly visible about 2/3 up. Last weekend I saw a parakeet enter and it
did not leave while I watched (20 minutes). I finally left.

As far as numbers, there are seven. Fred Bird notes that in his
neighborhood (Maple Leaf) there were formerly 4 birds, then six (including
juveniles), and then 4 again. This over the course of three years. This
is probably when they bred at Carkeek Park. Lately the Maple Leaf birds
have been missing, it is likely they joined the Seward Park birds.
Residents who I've talked to (I'm new to this area) say the birds have
been around for several years (though certainly not all seven birds).
It's unknown whether this flock has increased via reproduction as opposed
to annexation of the northern flock. But the bird in the cavity is
certainly strong evidence of nesting now. They are undoubtedly
escaped/released cage birds. Both Mitred and Scarlet-fronted Parakeets
are native to lowlands of western South America. Crimson-fronted lives in
Panama.

I don't know how long they live, but I'd guess 30-40 years in captivity
(significantly shorter in the wild). As for their outlook, I bet they'll
continue to increase until they reach a carrying capacity for the area.
I'm not concerned that they would establish themselves outside of our
settled areas because their reliance on ornamentals is too high. I doubt
they could last in a contiguous conifer forest, especially with the
accompanying cold. The Puget Trough settled areas supply them with good
food supply through bird feeders (they eat sunflower seeds at my
neighbor's house) and ornamental trees. A rather large flock of Conures
lives in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. I bet eventually ours will
rival theirs, unless control measures are enacted. I'm not really for or
against removing these birds. It seems unlikely they would last outside
the city, and they don't seem to harm native birds in any way, though they
will compete for nesting cavities. I'd say leave them alone and treat it
as an experiment. Their gregarious and noisy nature would make it easy to
remove them in the future if it was necessary.


-------------
Michael R. Smith
Univ. of Washington, Seattle
whimbrel at u.washington.edu