Subject: Re: The Seward Park Parrots
Date: Jan 15 11:33:36 1997
From: David Paul Meyer - paulmeyer at seanet.com


At 09:18 PM 1/13/97 -0800, you wrote:
>At 01:37 AM 1/13/97 -0500, you wrote:
>>Paul Meyer asked:
>>>If anyone has seen the Seward Park parrots since early December, I would
>>>appreciate hearing where and in what numbers.
>>
>>Dave Brodeur wonders:
>>>There was some speculation on Tweeters a few months ago that the North
>>>Seattle and Seward Park birds were the same flock; was this ever settled?
>>
> And Fred responds: Based on last year's reasonably close observations (and
>somewhat less detailed observations from previous years): the Aratinga
>Parakeets (they are not parrots) have a curious mini-migratory routine of
>spending Feb. through mid-Aug. in the Seward Park area, then suddenly they
>burst forth or north and hang out primarily in Maple Leaf (NE 92n Street X
>15th NE) but range west to Ballard and east to Lake Washington. Obviously,
>they also go "home" to Seward Park. So would I if I had the choice.
>
>As to which species they are, there's no definitive answer yet. I'd love to
>see photos of the adult's underwing. I still hold tenuously to the
>possibility that different breeds have interbred, something, I'm told
>happens commonly in captive populations.
>
>Lastly, I did count nine overhead earlier this fall, and eight more
>recently. Is there any chance that the dead parakeet was recovered? That
>would answer a lot of questions.
>
>Fred Bird
>Frederick Bird
>1249 NE 92nd Street
>Seattle, Washington 98115
>Ph 206-526-5671
>Fx 206-522-6557
>fredbird at halcyon.com
>
>
>We have seen the Seward Park flock at close range many times. By close range,
I mean from inches away. Our feeder hangs just outside our kitchen window.

We saw them at the feeder, just the two "mom and the now dead "pop", starting
in early January of 1996. They came nearly every day from that time until
November, when pop was lost. I don't know if the neighbor kept the bird's
body. I will check on that.

I believe the birds to be mitered conures because of the shape of their
heads and bodies. Pop, the largest bird was between twelve and fourteen
inches long. The others were perhaps an inch shorter. The yearlings were
shorter still and had tufts of gray feathers sticking up from their heads.

The coloring of the adults is green with patches of red at the shoulders and
red visors over the bills. The ends of the tail and wing feathers are
darkish, tending toward blue. Underneath, behind, some birds display yellow.

My mother had a blue-headed conure as a pet. The Seward Park birds, though a
bit larger, look and act much as her bird looked and acted.

Please let me know why you think the birds are parakeets.

Paul Meyer---Seattle--paulmeyer at seanet.com