How did they get here?





There are many opinions about how the wild birds actually came to settle in Brooklyn and the surrounding areas of Long Island, but it can safely be said that they did not fly up here from South America on their own.

1967: The Great Escape – Fact or Fiction?

The theory that is most widely accepted is that a large shipment of birds destined for sale at New York area pet shops was accidentally released at Kennedy Airport around 1967 or 1968. Although the parrots were not officially spotted until the early 1970’s, it is believed the parrots survived in the parklands surrounding the airport, and over time made their way to Brooklyn and surrounding areas where we find them today.

During the 60s and 70s, more than 60,000 wild quaker parrots were shipped from South America to the U.S.A. Why so many? Considering the birds agricultural pests, the Argentineans had spent 10 years trying to wipe these parrots out. In fact, a government-sponsored program managed to kill more than 400,000 of these birds in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. In the mid 1960’s a decision was made to sell the parrots to the United States rather than kill them. This was when a major effort began to export these birds to the U.S..

In the 1970’s, after the escaped birds established themselves, they slowly began expanding their domain. Over the years, ‘satellite’ colonies appeared in various areas of Brooklyn, including: Greenwood Cemetery, Marine Park, Bensonhurst, and Bay Ridge.

The parrots even tried to establish themselves in Manhattan’s Central Park, but were driven off by a hostile Parks Department which feared the parrots would crowd out local and migratory birds that used the Park, however, they do seem to have somewhat of a presence in NYC.



Today the parrots have been seen all across Long Island, as well as New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island and beyond.