Oh, then this! (about Myiopsitta monachus)

This just popped up in my stream on ResearchGate.

The Role of Monk Parakeets as Nest-Site Facilitators in Their Native and Invaded Areas

“Invasive species can be harmful to native species, although this fact could be more
complex when some natives eventually benefit from invaders. Faced with this paradox, we show
how the invasive monk parakeet, the only parrot species that builds its nests with sticks, can host
other species as tenants,
increasing nest-site availability for native but also exotic species. This same
pattern is observed in the native range of the species, and when parakeets occupy urban or rural
habitats, although the richness of tenants was higher in invaded areas and rural habitats. Tenants
participated in the cooperative defense against predators, benefiting parakeets with their presence.
As tenants can be both native and invasive species, management plans should consider the complex
network of interactions developed with the invader.”

Oh yeah. If Myiopsitta monachus ruled the world, we would all be better off. I have read that these birds even cooperate with their predators, as tenants, and I have personally seen them stand up FOR CATS.

They build huge condos with separate areas for different activities. Because of the invasion of humans, these parrots have increasingly been forced to build these nests in human-made constructions.

There is another article, slightly older, slightly related, that contains a photo of a quaker parrot and a bird of another species sitting together, the quaker having spotted something (the photographer?) and on alert, the other bird still looking oblivious.

Parrots have been on the planet for around 55,000,000 years. Modern humans only for about 250,000.

We inherited the planet from these more mature species.

I adopted two non-releasable birds of this species in June 1994. I emigrated with them twice. They have taught me so much! We humans are nowhere near as smart as we tend to think we are, as a species. We are quite limited.

And the only thing DEFRA wants to do is kill them all callously. Even though it was not their fault that they ended up in England. They’re a south-american species, after all. They don’t fly across the Atlantic, unless it’s in an air plane, I can assure you.

It’s us humans who spread them around the world, just like we did with Psittacula krameri and Columba livia and so many other species. We particularly introduced a lot of species in Australia, sometimes purely to be able to shoot them (hunting).

The article does end on a slightly negative note, but I reckon it’s quite daring to dare suggest that so-called invasive species can have benefits too. So maybe that’s why. To stave off a wave of criticism, claiming that the researchers overlooked the dangers of invasive species.

This spunky creature was part of my household for 21 years. She was still a youngster when she was brought to a wild-bird hospital in Florida where I was volunteering at the time. It was against the law to release her, and she was unable to fly, so she needed a home. I adopted her along with quaker parrot Mohawk, who had already been given that name by others, so I decided to call this one Sioux. As I had noticed that these birds are never on their own in the wild, I wanted to adopt at least two of them, for increased well-being, and I housed them together.

Feel free to share your opinion below, please.


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