Introduced as pets, monk parakeets are now the bane of birders,...

We love watching the flocks of Monk parakeets in St. Petersburg and Clearwater. They are very amusing and any noise they make is usually only when they are in flight and never at night. It is not disturbing, especially when compared to the obnoxious sounds of seagulls and mockingbirds (Florida's state bird).
I have also never noticed a mess made by these little parrots from eating fruit. They are the only parrot that builds its own nest so they are not invasive to other species in the respect of nest stealing. The wildlife coordinator for the Audobon Society, who was quoted in the article, should be more cautious in lumping all exotics together especially when talking about eradication.

Cameron Fritzson and his plan to rob and sell eggs was not just foolish, but also criminal. He deserved whatever happened to him - shame on you Cameron, you scum bag!!!

Iguana's and now parakeets..., the line has been drawn!

Sandy wrote:

Cameron Fritzson and his plan to rob and sell eggs was not just foolish, but also criminal. He deserved whatever happened to him - shame on you Cameron, you scum bag!!!

You tell em girl! I only hope the birds had a chance to bite him before he fell down.

Braaaaakk!!!

I'll bet you that Cameron Fritzson doesn't try it again. For $20 he gets a jolt that could kill him.............

Dave Ross wrote:

Iguana's and now parakeets..., the line has been drawn!

Both taste like chicken... why not feed the homeless with these?

hey all....its me the bird poacher. i'll be out of the hospital soon, climbing high power electrical equipment, scaling tall buildings, and other daring acts to poach more young'ns. i cant be stopped. any hoo...... stay safe, and thanks for all the support..... suckas!

fried wrote:

hey all....its me the bird poacher. i'll be out of the hospital soon, climbing high power electrical equipment, scaling tall buildings, and other daring acts to poach more young'ns. i cant be stopped. any hoo...... stay safe, and thanks for all the support..... suckas!

You are as dumb as the idiot that got zapped lol

Mmmmmm...tastes like chicken

mike clary... both you and the moron in the hospital should be eradicated....him for stealing eggs and you for feeling sorry for him

They are welcome to come roost in any of my trees around my house.

"they can also lure humans into dangerous feats of foolishness." -- Give me a break! I'm sorry he's hurt - but he's hurt because he was trespassing and stealing - he's hurt because of his own stupidity - you can hardly blame this on the birds

“They can also lure humans into dangerous feats of foolishness”

GIVE ME A BREAK!

I'm sorry that this man is hurt however; he trespassed and was attempting to steal and this is the birds fault?

As posted earlier - Monk Parakeets DO NOT drive out native species, they coexist with them, often foraging for food side-by-side.

I think those calling for a mass "cull" of people who steal monk parakeet eggs is a bit harsh. These people simply need to be educated about the dangers of climbing up into high tension wires.

Furthermore, I think that calling the monk parakeets "hearty" is appropriate: these birds have lived in Brooklyn for years and they show a lot of "heart."

I'm glad we don't consider "eradicating" nonnative people. I thought America was a melting pot...oh yes, that only goes for people. This bird has not proven to be of harm to native species or the environment, so why the prejudice? And by the way...what was the last native Carolina parrot doing in a Cincinatti zoo?

Steve Baldwin wrote:

I think those calling for a mass "cull" of people who steal monk parakeet eggs is a bit harsh. These people simply need to be educated about the dangers of climbing up into high tension wires.
Furthermore, I think that calling the monk parakeets "hearty" is appropriate: these birds have lived in Brooklyn for years and they show a lot of "heart."

Ok, if we can't cull the morons can we just spay/neuter them?
Saw your brother on 60 Minutes Sunday, he's lookin pretty fat.:)

"but they can also lure humans into dangerous feats of foolishness."

Uhhh... I don't think we can blame the birds for things that stupid people do. It's called survival of the fittest; if you risk death to steal eggs from a parakeet, I think you got what's coming to you.

Gorby wrote:

<quoted text>
Only bigots like you and iguanas need to be eradicated.

You are probably an illegal iguana and need to be exterminated.

Many parrots from parrot jungle, and private homes, pet shops got loose when we got hit by the hurricaines back to back.

These birds i am sure would rather be in a home with toys, seed, love then out and about but they should not have to suffer becasue people or hurricanes bought them out into the real world where they have to hunt and forge for survival