Post: Monk Parakeets in CT need our help.Posted by Mickie on 11/19/05
Hi Friends,
The following, is part of an article that appeared on the
local newspaper. Connecticut has staterd to kill the Monk
Parakeets. We, the people who love and care for birds are
heartbroken. The Monk Parakeets are not protected by any law.
I feel we are their voice. I wrote a letter to the newspaper
and hopefully they will hear our voice in this matter.
I was hoping if anyone in our bird community has any video
clips of their Quakers talking and interacting with humans
that I could use. It will help me to bring our point across
to the news media. We need to exalt and show their
intelligence and how full of emotion these birds are. Please
help me on this. What's happening is very tragic and if I
sat and did nothing I will feel awful for the rest of my
life. I owe it to Willow. Thanks, so much.
Mickie
Article created: 11/17/2005 04:23:23 AM
Pole-dwelling birds facing wrath of UI
KEN DIXON dixon.connpost@snet.net
The United Illuminating Co., with support from federal and
state officials, including the Connecticut Audubon Society,
has begun an eradication program to destroy monk parakeet
nests and kill off entire bird colonies.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Agriculture said
Wednesday that at least 47 of the large, bright-green
tropical birds were humanely killed this week in a procedure
that exposes them to large amounts of carbon dioxide.
Priscilla Feral, president of the Norwalk-based Friends of
Animals, called it the sanctioned murder of intelligent
birds that is being subsidized by taxpayers and customers of
the utility.
"They belong to the planet, not the corporation," Feral
said. "This is a draconian measure and I'm going to raise hell."
The $125,000 program, targeting more than 100 stick nests in
utility poles, began in West Haven this week and will expand
to Milford, Stratford, Bridgeport and beyond, UI officials said.
The gregarious cowled birds, which have colonized much of
the Connecticut coast over the last 30 years, are being
captured at night with nets by specially trained UI crews
and turned over to U.S. Department of Agriculture personnel.
The USDA officials euthanize most of the birds and use
others for research, according to Al Carbone, spokesman for
UI, who stressed that bird nests in utility poles have
contributed to at least two fires, including one last summer.
Corey Slavitt, a public affairs spokeswoman with the USDA's
animal and plant health inspection service in Washington,
confirmed that UI workers are giving the animals to the USDA.
"The reason it's being done at night is because that's when
adult populations congregate at their roosts," Slavitt said.
He added that the birds are actually parrots (Myiopsitta
monachus) native to the jungles of South America who have
naturalized themselves. They are not native to this area.
Indeed, Dennis Schain, communications director for the state
Department of Environmental Protection, said that the birds
have been declared an invasive species with potential
detrimental effects on the environment.
"The DEP is, of course, in the business of protecting
wildlife and the state's natural resources," Schain said.
"In this case, however, the monk parakeet is an invasive
species; it is not protected under any federal or state
laws, and nests on utility poles are creating a fire hazard
and a threat to reliable electrical service.
Posts on this thread, including this one
Monk Parakeets in CT need our help., 11/19/05, by Mickie.