Becoming trite at this point, but we have once again blown right through another month. {Looks out window} Not seeing people flying off the planet, so I cannot place blame on an accelerated spin – time simply marches on (as a friend always reminds me, the alternative is not healthy). Truth is, I’ve been incredibly busy getting caught up from the winter migration and now prepping for the extended spring trip in a little more than 3 weeks. More importantly, Transworld is this weekend – not a fan of the name, but this is THE commercial haunt industry’s annual gathering in St. Louis (link here). While I clear space on the phone for oodles of pictures/videos and dig around in the Intrigued HQ couch cushions for spending capital, Brad is going to take you along on another adventure across the pond. See ya’ next month!
Take it away Brad…
Jan and I were on assignment to tour and inspect the Wildlife Intrigued offices scattered throughout Western Europe. The Intrigued corporate jet was unavailable, so we had to fly commercial (sure hope that touring superstar returns the jet soon so we can use it). After visiting for a few days with Jan’s cousins in England (yes, we did also that last Fall), Jan and I had the good fortune to be able to spend a week with the editing team in Barcelona, Spain. On our first non-travel day, Jan and I walked about a mile, gently uphill, through the friendly streets of Barcelona to Park Guell (see here), one of the largest green spaces in Barcelona. Originally, Park Guell was going to be a private residential development on a mountain outside of the city. The homes were to be designed by Antoni Gaudi (of Sagrada Familia Basilica fame, see here). As usual, location (quite a distance from then developing Barcelona in the mid 1800’s), financial troubles and lack of interest ended with only three spectacular dwellings being built. Only one of those buildings is occupied today as a private residence. Oh, and it’s for sale if you are interested.
Jan and I arranged an English-speaking tour of Park Guell. Incidentally, English is only the third most popular language spoken here, after Catalan and Spanish, we might be at a slight disadvantage as general tourists. We did find that nearly everywhere, the locals were more than willing to accept my twenty words of high school Spanish, and then quickly shift to speaking nearly perfect English for us. On another tour, our guide told us that children in Barcelona learn three languages from the very beginning of school: Catalan, Spanish and English. Once Jan and I arrived at the park, I heard at least a dozen different languages being spoken, English being the least heard. For the tour, Jan said we were supposed to look for purple jackets from the tour company. The purple should contrast nicely with all of the greenery around.
We see green flecks, hit the jump to learn more about our Spanish find.
As soon as I spotted the gathering place, these bright green flecks were moving between the palm trees and making quite a noise. Jan had her phone out taking photos as soon as she saw them. I feel obligated to disclose we did NOT travel with our big cameras and lenses. With the multi-country travel assignment, it just didn’t seem prudent to take along even more bags to keep track of. (see below)
With myriad accents being spoken around me, I fired up Merlin to see if it could hear the birds “talking” over all the humans.
These are Monk Parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus), a +1 for Jan and I. Coincidentally, this was also the Merlin app’s “Bird of the Day” in Barcelona.
Monk Parakeets are native to South America, but small populations have found their way to large cities in North America. They are considered by some to be the most invasive species of parrot across North America. Reports vary on how the parakeets “crossed the pond” to Spain. Some say dealers in Madrid started selling them in bird markets in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Shortly thereafter the birds escaped, or were released, into the wild.
These few Monks seemed oblivious to all of the humans just a few feet below them. The palm trees were not very tall, perhaps 20-25 feet in height. The birds were all working on their various portions of the nests just under the palm fronds, precisely where animated cartoons would have us believe that coconuts grow. Wrong kind of palm tree in this case.
While many of the parakeets were busy flitting about with their latest home improvement projects, some were sitting quietly, side by side. Many were hopping along the outside of the giant nests, trying to find the perfect place for the twig they had just found. Maybe it was that they found the perfect twig for a previously identified spot on the nest. I didn’t ask, and I’m not sure I would have understood the answer anyway. Maybe it was the condo association maintenance team taking care of winter repairs. Though I didn’t see any tiny Binford tools at the job site. Or anyone wearing flannel named Al.
Monk Parakeets build large stick-based nests. The structures are so large that it is common for there to be 20 nests (or apartments) in one structure. They are the only members of the parrot family to use sticks to build nests. Monks are also the only member of the parrot family to nest in colonies. The nests are so well built and insulated that the parakeets are able to survive in colder climates than other parrots. I wonder if they have trouble with their kids moving back in with mom and dad. At this point it’s fairly obvious that Monk Parakeets are very social birds, usually living and nesting in groups, though there can be oddballs that prefer to be on their own.
They prefer to nest in open spaces with trees, cell phone towers, or tall/sturdy structures nearby. Monks can tolerate a wide range of temperatures from 100F in the summer, to below freezing temperatures during winter in their sturdily built condominiums. The more nest chambers with residents, the better during cold spells.
Monk Parakeets eat mainly seeds, leaf buds, fruit and berries, though will infrequently dine on insects. They have been known to scavenge human food from garbage cans, but not very often. While there were clean refuse containers all over Barcelona, we didn’t see Monk Parakeets, or other animals for that matter, frequenting the easy food source. It seems their natural food was plentiful enough; no need to have to rely on humans for food.
A pair of Monk Parakeets will tend an average of 5 eggs per season for about 24 days. Incubation is done solely by the female. The male brings his mate food every couple of hours during incubation. Once hatched, both parents share feeding duties with the male making slightly more munchie runs for refills. Youngsters are in the nest for 35-40 days and can remain with their parents for up to 3 months. At first, food is regurgitated from the parents to the chicks. However, from a very early age, chicks learn to eat what their parents eat in the form they eat it.
Captive Monk Parakeets can learn to mimic human speech. A challenging feat in Barcelona because of the variety of languages spoken in the area. Monk Parakeets can live up to 6 years in the wild, or 15 years in captivity. Just think of the vocabulary they could develop in 15 years.
Monk Parakeets do not appear to be of any conservation concern.
No, this photo isn’t posted upside down. I thought the same when I was reviewing the photos after our vacation, er, business trip. When I played back the entire sequence, I could see this Monk rotating itself around looking for the best place for the new twig. Monk Parakeets spend quite a bit of time maintaining their nest structures. This Monk was having no trouble moving about the nest while using both feet and its beak for stability.
The park tour was being called to gather, so we said goodbye to the entertaining Monk Parakeets. I should have known that this wasn’t the last time we would see them, or hear them in Barcelona. All throughout the Park Guell tour, as well as walking the through streets and parks of Barcelona, we were greeted with their familiar calls and bright flashes of green.
Thank you for reading. If you want to see more Monk Parakeet photos, please visit here.
Credits
Thanks again to Jan for proofreading and editing. Thanks to Jan for about most of the photos in this article.
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As I’ve probably mentioned before, I’m personally not the biggest fan of using a mobile phone for travel or wildlife photography. I don’t feel like I can hold a mobile phone quite as still as I can a large camera/lens combo. Oh sure, landscapes can look pretty good via mobile phone cameras. I’ve seen some very nice photos done via mobile phones from many others; it’s just not my preference. Subjects need to be chosen carefully, and wildlife, or birds more specifically, probably aren’t the best subjects for me to try with a mobile phone. When I have to zoom in on a subject, especially a moving subject, mobile phones do not have the same optical zoom capability so everything is done digitally. That means that pixels are being lost in the process and the final photos can look to be a bit muddy, or impressionistic (like a Monet painting) on a big screen. The 4.5” screen on my phone doesn’t quite reveal all of the same details my 27” monitor does at home, or even my 10” travel tablet. While I mostly agree that the best camera is the one you have with you, call me a camera snob because I’d prefer to take along my big camera and lens if I can, all nine pounds of it. That is, unless I’m schlepping it through security at multiple airports and across multiple borders on an inspection tour for Intrigued.
Life Intrigued 