Subject: [Tweeters] Yacolt, Clark County - Monk Parakeets
Date: Oct 31 14:47:35 2007
From: Wayne Weber - contopus at telus.net


Guy and Tweeters,

I have no idea how long Monk Parakeets have been in Yacolt, but this is
undoubtedly a satellite colony from the several small colonies that used to
be in the Portland, OR area. Monk Parakeets started to be seen around
Portland about 1976, and in the 1980s were quite easy to find, especially
near the Portland Airport. However, they appear to have declined to just a
few birds around Portland in the last few years, and the colony at Yacolt
may now be the largest one in the Pacific Northwest.

There was a Monk Parakeet colony in Port Orchard as well about 3 or 4 years
ago, but I believe that colony was deliberately wiped out. (Can anyone in
the Port Orchard area provide an update?)

By the way-- there is no "list of states where Monk Parakeets are officially
countable on your ABA list". The ABA decides which species are or are not
countable in the ABA area (e.g., Ringed Turtle-Doves are not countable
anywhere), but not in which states they may or may not be counted. That is
up to the individual to decide. To the best of my knowledge, neither the
Washington nor Oregon Records Committee considers Monk Parakeets to be
"established" in either state. However, these committees have no
jurisdiction over which species are "countable" on lists submitted to the
ABA-- that is strictly up to the ABA.

For my part, I certainly plan to have a look for the Monk Parakeets of
Yacolt next time I am in that part of Washington. If they are not solidly
"established" now, they may be within a few years!

Wayne C. Weber
Delta, BC
contopus at telus.net



-----Original Message-----
From: tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu
[mailto:tweeters-bounces at mailman1.u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of Guy McWethy
Sent: October-29-07 10:29 AM
To: Tweeters
Subject: [Tweeters] Yacolt, Clark County - Monk Parakeets, Sooty Grouse

Tweets,
Intrigued by the idea of seeing a Parakeet in WA, I
decided to run over to Yacolt to see the Monk
Parakeets. Just outside of Yacolt, we saw a Sooty
Grouse calmly eating gravel off the side of the road,
on Amboy Street! Very Nice!
We located at least 6 stick nests on power poles. 2
were VERY large, the others were rather small. The
largest 2, and several others, were on Hubbard Street.
We located about a dozen parakeets feeding in fruit
trees, and from local feeders. VERY pretty birds!
They were on a small cul-de-sac off of Hubbard, to the
south of the 'main drag' thru Yacolt.

Does anyone know the provenance and history of these
birds? Is this an established colony? How long have
they been there? Is Washington going to be added to
the states where Monk Parakeets are officially
countable on your ABA list?

In any rate, it was a nice excuse to drive into the
area, and seeing the birds was well worth the trip!

Good Birding !
Guy

Guy McWethy
Renton, WA
mailto: lguy_mcw at yahoo.com