Friday, February 11, 2011

The wonders of nature…in Southside Chicago?

You guys aren’t going to believe this. Well, maybe you will. I came home yesterday to the most amazing sight.

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I thought to myself, “did the zoo have some escapees?” Remember, we just had a blizzard. And this is the tree in my courtyard. Some of you know that we have kept one of the inhabitants of our courtyard as a pet. But this was just beyond cool.

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So what kind of bird is this? After some research, I found out. They are Monk Parakeets, or Quaker parrots. Parrots! And they are originally from South America, but were imported to the United States as pets in the 60’s. The most amazing thing to me, is how they acclimated to this weather. I mean, it’s freezing outside right now. How is this tropical bird surviving? This is crazy stuff!

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I now have something exciting to tell my cubs scouts this week.

7 comments:

Larissa said...

This is awesome, Betsy! I love it!!!!
And hooray for posting blog links on Facebook so I can read from amazing people like YOU:-)

Betsy said...

Wow, this is really cool, and your photos are wonderful. What kind of tree is that, do you know? And about how long is the bird?

Jess Hammond said...

Holy crap that was yesterday? In the dead of winter?? That IS cool.

Barbie Madsen said...

I saw a whole tree full of these by my house and was amazed as well!!

Unknown said...

@Larissa: Yay! And now I know where to find your blog!
@Betsy: I think they are cherry trees. In the spring we get beautiful cherry blossoms. The berries themselves are probably wild and not so edible for humans, but the birdies love them. The birds looked to be about 8 inches from head to tail. Not huge, but bigger than a typical pet parakeet. Beautiful birds.

E B said...

From what I hear (stuff of Hyde Park legend), they were released from an apartment in Regents when the tenants were moving, and just learned to live outside. I used to see them close to the bridge over Lake Shore Drive on 51st (by Regents) but didn't this past year. Now I know where they went!

Krischelle said...

Quaker Parrots! like a religious society of parrots! haha.. I love these pictures you took :) especially the one of it's rear end...Bahaha