On Monk Parakeet sightings in "odd" places
All,
Given the recent posts regarding Monk Parakeets being found in odd places,
I thought I'd investigate these recent Monk Parakeet sightings and compare
them to what's known about the biology of these birds.
Starting with Mike Warner's observation today in Wilton, using my
(incomplete) database of nest sites within the state, Schenk's Island is
just under 10km for the closest known nest site in Norwalk. According to
the Birds of North America account (which I am presently revising for
Cornell) the maximum known home range / foraging distance is approximately
10 km from a nest, though the average is closer to 5 km. Though, no one, to
my knowledge, has explicitly studied home ranges of North American Monks in
general, or CT Monks specifically. While it is entirely possible there may
be a nest closer to Wilton that I don't know about, these individuals are
likely a foraging flock from the Norwalk colony.
The second recent sighting, the one bird and nest in Willimantic, is a
little trickier to explain. A genetic study published in 2010 ("Genetic
evidence for high propagule pressure and long-distance dispersal in monk
parakeet invasive populations" - Goncalves da Silva et al. 2010), found
that Monks are capable of dispersing up to 100km, which is a huge change
from the previous estimate of only about 2 km. The two closest known nest
sites, one in New Britain and one in Old Saybrook are well within this
range. As the crow (or parakeet in this case) flies, the colony in Old
Saybrook is about 50km away and the one in New Britain is about 48km from
the one in Willimantic. Even the colony in the Lordship area of Stratford
(98km) is within their potential dispersal range. Even though it is within
reason that the bird did disperse on its own and took up residence in
Willimantic, it is still might be possible that the bird is a released pet,
even though there aren't any bands on the bird and no one has reported a
missing Monk. If there were two birds nesting there, I'd be more convinced
that this was, in fact, a dispersal event. Without genetic testing, it
would be very hard to say, ultimately. Regardless, I will be very
interested if others join him/her and whether or not they start a new
colony in Willimantic.
Best,
Kevin
--
Kevin Burgio (CV)http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/eebedia/images/b/bb/Burgio_CV2.pdf
Ph.D. Student
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
University of Connecticut
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Dept
U-3043 75 No. Eagleville Road
Storrs, CT 06269-3043
kevin.burgio@uconn.edu
(860) 486-3839
Monk Parakeet Research Website http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/people/burgio
Quite interesting Kevin, thanks for the info. Using a 100 km radius for successful dispersion, wouldn't a Providence RI colony be a potential source as well? Have any successful dispersals actually been observed in real time, with more than one bird arriving simultaneously at a site with a successful colony resulting? If not, than one might assume this could still be a manifestation of the usual dispersal mechanism, even if a failed one.
Dave
David Provencher
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Dave,
You are correct about the Rhode Island colonies (e.g. Warwick and East
Providence), any one of them are well within 100km of Willimantic, so the
potential exists that this individual isn't even originally from CT.
To answer your other question regarding an observation of a "typical"
dispersal event, to my knowledge there is none. Which makes the newly
discovered bird in Willimantic of great interest, scientifically. The
research done on the subject (which I cited in my original message) just
looked at variation in micro-satellite loci frequencies and distances
between nests of close relatives to see how far particular alleles can
travel within a single generation.
The truth is that very little is known about Monk Parakeets in North
America (or in general, really). It is really just my gut feeling that a
mated couple (Monks are sexually monogamous) would be more likely to
disperse from a site rather than an individual bird for a few reasons. As
parrots, they are incredibly social creatures and its been my experience
that they are never seen without other parakeets nearby. The behavior of
striking out on their own to found a new colony is incredibly risky, in
that the odds that another, unattached member of the opposite sex happened
to find them after also deciding to strike out on their own is probably
rather low, at least in North America. However, it may be that in their
native range, individuals do leave their natal colony in order to increase
gene flow to infuse new alleles into other colonies to ward off the effects
of inbreeding depression and etc. and this behavior may be adaptive in
their native range but maladaptive in their invasive range where it is much
less likely that they'd find established colonies 100 km from their
original colony.
Obviously, this is all just conjecture based entirely on my gut and my
knowledge of the birds. Researched properly, this new incursion into
Willimantic may yield quite a bit of information about a number of aspects
of their dispersal, nest site selection, and colonization, but only if
other Monks find their way to Willimantic and they set up a breeding
population there.
Best,
Kevin
On Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 1:29 PM, David F Provencher <
david.f.provencher@dom.com> wrote:
Quite interesting Kevin, thanks for the info. Using a 100 km radius for
successful dispersion, wouldn't a Providence RI colony be a potential
source as well? Have any successful dispersals actually been observed in
real time, with more than one bird arriving simultaneously at a site with a
successful colony resulting? If not, than one might assume this could still
be a manifestation of the usual dispersal mechanism, even if a failed one.
Dave
David Provencher
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This electronic message contains
information which may be legally confidential and/or privileged and
does not in any case represent a firm ENERGY COMMODITY bid or offer
relating thereto which binds the sender without an additional
express written confirmation to that effect. The information is
intended solely for the individual or entity named above and access
by anyone else is unauthorized. If you are not the intended
recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the
contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful. If
you have received this electronic transmission in error, please
reply immediately to the sender that you have received the message
in error, and delete it. Thank you.
--
Kevin Burgio (CV)http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/eebedia/images/b/bb/Burgio_CV2.pdf
Ph.D. Student
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
University of Connecticut
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Dept
U-3043 75 No. Eagleville Road
Storrs, CT 06269-3043
kevin.burgio@uconn.edu
(860) 486-3839
Monk Parakeet Research Website http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/people/burgio
Entirely unscientific, but I've long had a sort of mental image of how attempts to get rid of Monk Parakeets might work out in real life. Remember the movie Fantasia, and Mickey Mouse (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) trying to stop the brooms from carrying water? He chopped them up with an ax, and every piece became a new broom. I have the idea that is what happens one of those communal nests is destroyed without killing the birds - destroy one, end up with two new ones. And of course the chance for dispersal goes up each time.
Roy Harvey
Beacon Falls, CT
Sort of like regeneration in sea stars, Roy??
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 9, 2013, at 5:01 PM, Roy Harvey rmharvey@snet.net wrote:
Entirely unscientific, but I've long had a sort of mental image of how attempts to get rid of Monk Parakeets might work out in real life. Remember the movie Fantasia, and Mickey Mouse (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) trying to stop the brooms from carrying water? He chopped them up with an ax, and every piece became a new broom. I have the idea that is what happens one of those communal nests is destroyed without killing the birds - destroy one, end up with two new ones. And of course the chance for dispersal goes up each time.
Roy Harvey
Beacon Falls, CT
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I almost spit my entire cup of Ovaltine (or was it Ensure?) onto the computer screen when I saw this post from Mr. Harvey. I believe that is exactly what happens.
I remember years ago a Short Beach (coastal Branford) resident chopped down half a beautiful, towering, majestic White Pine to try to eliminate these raucous beasts. It must have cost a fortune and, this resident apparently didn't understand that birds are mobile. The savy little aratingids (myiopsittids, whatever) flew a couple feet over and built nests in the adjacent tree.
That White Pine still looks horrible and that resident is still probably being awakened at 6 am on Sunday mornings.
Steve Mayo
Bethany
From: Roy Harvey rmharvey@snet.net
To: ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org
Sent: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 5:01 PM
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] On Monk Parakeet sightings in "odd" places
Entirely unscientific, but I've long had a sort of mental image of how attempts to get rid of Monk Parakeets might work out in real life. Remember the movie Fantasia, and Mickey Mouse (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) trying to stop the brooms from carrying water? He chopped them up with an ax, and every piece became a new broom. I have the idea that is what happens one of those communal nests is destroyed without killing the birds - destroy one, end up with two new ones. And of course the chance for dispersal goes up each time.
Roy Harvey
Beacon Falls, CT
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org
Can we please cease this ongoing and deteriorating thread of discussion regarding monk parakeets? I find it incredibly personally distasteful and inappropriate
Lets get back to bird sightings. Shall we??
Mona Cavallero
West hartford ct
Sent from my iPhone
On Jan 9, 2013, at 6:57 PM, Steve Mayo and Rebecca Horowitz rsdmayo@sbcglobal.net wrote:
I almost spit my entire cup of Ovaltine (or was it Ensure?) onto the computer screen when I saw this post from Mr. Harvey. I believe that is exactly what happens.
I remember years ago a Short Beach (coastal Branford) resident chopped down half a beautiful, towering, majestic White Pine to try to eliminate these raucous beasts. It must have cost a fortune and, this resident apparently didn't understand that birds are mobile. The savy little aratingids (myiopsittids, whatever) flew a couple feet over and built nests in the adjacent tree.
That White Pine still looks horrible and that resident is still probably being awakened at 6 am on Sunday mornings.
Steve Mayo
Bethany
From: Roy Harvey rmharvey@snet.net
To: ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org
Sent: Wednesday, January 9, 2013 5:01 PM
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] On Monk Parakeet sightings in "odd" places
Entirely unscientific, but I've long had a sort of mental image of how attempts to get rid of Monk Parakeets might work out in real life. Remember the movie Fantasia, and Mickey Mouse (The Sorcerer's Apprentice) trying to stop the brooms from carrying water? He chopped them up with an ax, and every piece became a new broom. I have the idea that is what happens one of those communal nests is destroyed without killing the birds - destroy one, end up with two new ones. And of course the chance for dispersal goes up each time.
Roy Harvey
Beacon Falls, CT
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA) for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org
CT Birders,
Happy New Year!
The new year brought Common redpolls to the sanctuary which I am thoroughly enjoying as I have not seen them in several years.
As of yet I have not had any sightings of Pine grosbeaks, evening grosbeaks, bohemian waxwings or crossbills. Although cone production is not abundant there is tons of berries, crabapples and hollies as the resident mockingbird is keeping close watch on them. As they do not see fit to visit the sanctuary of their free will hasn't anyone seen a hit-by-car, cat caught or window strike? Seriously going on 16 years of rehabilitation and only a white -winged crossbill transferred all the way from New Hampshire has crossed the sanctuary boundaries!
I am almost ready to pay for the privilege to rehab one of these cool northern visitors! So keeping my strong desire in mind to spend some time with these species I am also having withdrawals from Pileated woodpeckers and would happily give up hours of my time to hang with them as well!
Can you tell rehab is quiet right now??????
I posted up some more photos of other admits and visitors to the sanctuary. Check it out!
--
Jayne
Jayne Neville
Mount Vernon Songbird Sanctuary
www.mvssanctuary.org
Kevin,
Interesting information. And while others are fascinated or irritated by
the posts on monk parakeets, my thoughts took a rather Monty Pythonesque
turn when I read your statement "(Monks are sexually monogamous)". All I
can picture is a bunch of monks chanting and whacking themselves on the head
with their books every few steps. Oh boy, way too Catholic of an
upbringing...or way too much Monty Python....
Paul
New Milford
-----Original Message-----
From: CTBirds [mailto:ctbirds-bounces@lists.ctbirding.org] On Behalf Of
Kevin Burgio
Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2013 2:16 PM
To: David F Provencher
Cc: ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org
Subject: Re: [CT Birds] On Monk Parakeet sightings in "odd" places
Dave,
You are correct about the Rhode Island colonies (e.g. Warwick and East
Providence), any one of them are well within 100km of Willimantic, so the
potential exists that this individual isn't even originally from CT.
To answer your other question regarding an observation of a "typical"
dispersal event, to my knowledge there is none. Which makes the newly
discovered bird in Willimantic of great interest, scientifically. The
research done on the subject (which I cited in my original message) just
looked at variation in micro-satellite loci frequencies and distances
between nests of close relatives to see how far particular alleles can
travel within a single generation.
The truth is that very little is known about Monk Parakeets in North
America (or in general, really). It is really just my gut feeling that a
mated couple (Monks are sexually monogamous) would be more likely to
disperse from a site rather than an individual bird for a few reasons. As
parrots, they are incredibly social creatures and its been my experience
that they are never seen without other parakeets nearby. The behavior of
striking out on their own to found a new colony is incredibly risky, in
that the odds that another, unattached member of the opposite sex happened
to find them after also deciding to strike out on their own is probably
rather low, at least in North America. However, it may be that in their
native range, individuals do leave their natal colony in order to increase
gene flow to infuse new alleles into other colonies to ward off the effects
of inbreeding depression and etc. and this behavior may be adaptive in
their native range but maladaptive in their invasive range where it is much
less likely that they'd find established colonies 100 km from their
original colony.
Obviously, this is all just conjecture based entirely on my gut and my
knowledge of the birds. Researched properly, this new incursion into
Willimantic may yield quite a bit of information about a number of aspects
of their dispersal, nest site selection, and colonization, but only if
other Monks find their way to Willimantic and they set up a breeding
population there.
Best,
Kevin
On Wed, Jan 9, 2013 at 1:29 PM, David F Provencher <
david.f.provencher@dom.com> wrote:
Quite interesting Kevin, thanks for the info. Using a 100 km radius for
successful dispersion, wouldn't a Providence RI colony be a potential
source as well? Have any successful dispersals actually been observed in
real time, with more than one bird arriving simultaneously at a site with
a
successful colony resulting? If not, than one might assume this could
still
be a manifestation of the usual dispersal mechanism, even if a failed one.
Dave
David Provencher
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This electronic message contains
information which may be legally confidential and/or privileged and
does not in any case represent a firm ENERGY COMMODITY bid or offer
relating thereto which binds the sender without an additional
express written confirmation to that effect. The information is
intended solely for the individual or entity named above and access
by anyone else is unauthorized. If you are not the intended
recipient, any disclosure, copying, distribution, or use of the
contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful. If
you have received this electronic transmission in error, please
reply immediately to the sender that you have received the message
in error, and delete it. Thank you.
--
Kevin Burgio
(CV)http://hydrodictyon.eeb.uconn.edu/eebedia/images/b/bb/Burgio_CV2.pdf
Ph.D. Student
NSF Graduate Research Fellow
University of Connecticut
Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Dept
U-3043 75 No. Eagleville Road
Storrs, CT 06269-3043
kevin.burgio@uconn.edu
(860) 486-3839
Monk Parakeet Research Website http://www.eeb.uconn.edu/people/burgio
This list is provided by the Connecticut Ornithological Association (COA)
for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut.
For subscription information visit
http://lists.ctbirding.org/mailman/listinfo/ctbirds_lists.ctbirding.org