Sadly,
the law basically sanctions the killing of the birds,
even though there are plenty of bird adopters and
bird lovers who want to help the birds. So, young
birds recovered from nests, along with any eggs inside,
are destroyed almost reflexively, as if their lives
didn't matter at all. Not only is this process cruel,
immoral, and wasteful - it is completely unnecessary.
There are plenty of alternatives for displaced Quakers.
Nobody wants to kill the birds, but nobody can lift
a single finger to stop the killing, because doing
so is against the law!
Hopefully, this will never
happen again!
It's sad to see these nests
go, but there's a silver lining to this cloud: the
Edgewater parrot colony may actually be better off
if these removals happen now, rather than in June
or July. There are likely no eggs nor young in the
nests right now, the weather is favorable, there
is plenty of food and plenty of time to rebuild
before winter.
My biggest worry about these
birds being nestless over the next few months is
their increased exposure to Red-Tailed hawks. There
are many such predators living in the cliffs and
high-rises above Edgewater, and I've personally
witnessed some very scary strafing runs by Red-Tails
against the parrots. It would be unfortunate if
the colony is decimated by Pale Male and Lola's
progeny due to a lack of protection. (Note: I'm
not anti-hawk - in fact, I'm a former Pale Male
partisan, but I do wish these raptors would stay
away from the parrots, at least for the next few
months while they're vulnerable).
Only time will tell whether
PSE&G's nest removals lead to an appreciable
decline in Edgewater's wild parrot population. One
hopes that the parrots will simply take their lumps
this week, rebuild expeditiously, and make maximally
effective use of their unique defensive "sentinel"
defenses to thwart the raptors.
For what it's worth, PSE&G
has been very forthright, open, and cooperative
in terms of meeting with New Jersey residents (and
even outsiders from Brooklyn such as Steve, who
care about these birds). It's representatives have
expressed a sincere willingness to try to devise
solutions and practices that will better accomodate
the interests of avians and humans in the future.
Nobody's served by demonizing either the power company
or these charming birds.
NEST TEARDOWNS
DONE BY PSE&G
BLACK MONDAY
The first truck arrived
promptly at 8:30 am
WE WATCHED IN DISMAY, AS THE HOMES
OF OUR LITTLE GREEN FRIENDS WERE RIPPED FROM
THE POLES AND THEN BROKE INTO PIECES ON THE
SIDEWALK.
MORE
ENFORCEMENTS
This was a very sad day for the wild parrots
of Edgewater, and for those people who believe
that they enhance life in that town. As I've
written before, PSE&G can't be blamed
for removing the nests from their poles, but
the fact that these wild parrots enjoy absolutely
no protection in New Jersey is, I believe,
a MAJOR error that must be addressed.
These birds may provide challenges to us
humans, but they should not be classed a "potentially
dangerous species" with no rights at
all. After all, these birds were "born
in the USA," have been living with us
for at least 30 years, and deserve a modicum
of respect, especially because they have all
of the great qualities we associate with the
American character: they're industrious, loyal
to each other, they're amazing little engineers,
they coexist well with other native birds,
and they just won't give up, even when the
deck is stacked against them.
More PSE&G trucks assemble
on Route 5, forming a formidable force
against which the little avians could
mount no credible defense.
Numerous eggs were taken and
destroyed from this nest, on the north
edge of Edgewater's "Parrot Park."
WARNING:
THE FOLLOWING PHOTO IS OF A PARROT FETUS INSIDE
A BROKEN EGG. DO NOT SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW IF
YOU FEEL YOU MAY BE OFFENDED OR UPSET BY THIS
GRAPHIC IMAGE.
This egg fell to the ground,
sadly revealing the unborn baby inside.
An aggrieved protestor, Steve
Baldwin, sings: "Where have all the
parrots gone?" and "Keep away
from PSE&G"
Nest debris on River Road.
It took the wild parrots months to build
this nest but only about five minutes for
men to destroy it. All told, four nests were
destroyed in the immediate vicinity of this
photo; afterwards, the trucks left and made
their way north. There were many more wild
parrot nests north on River Road; they were
all destroyed this morning.
Fortunately, PSE&G is not
allowed to touch Edgewater's "Big
W" tree, which exists on protected
land. It houses many wild parrots.
