Watervliet aflutter over pair of exotic birds
Saturday, June 16, 2012 at 1:59 
Two Monk Parakeets have set up residence on a power pole beneath three transformers at the intersection of 3rd Avenue and 21st Streets in Watervliet, N.Y. June 15, 2012. They have garnered the attention of EnCon and the local populous.WATERVLIET — It's a long way from the tropics, but a pair of monk parakeets have set up housekeeping on a 21st Street utility pole between 2nd and 3rd avenues.
The 12-inch-tall bright green birds with grayish foreheads and chests have been around the area for about two weeks, according to neighborhood residents.
"I noticed them last Friday on my lunch break," said Lisa Dennis, a pharmacist at Rite Aid and a resident of the area. "The nest was half the size then."
By Friday afternoon the elaborate twig structure appeared to be a few feet tall and wide.
Dennis also said she can hear a lot of chirping while she's working, and speculates the parakeets could be laying eggs.
The Monk Parakeet, also known as the Quaker Parrot, (Myiopsitta monachus) is a species of parrot, in most treatments the only member of the genus Myiopsitta. It originates from the temperate to subtropical areas of Argentina and the surrounding countries in South America. Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/Watervliet-aflutter-over-pair-of-exotic-birds-3638372.php#ixzz1xwgK6I1XIf she's right, there could be more exotic birds in the area soon: Monk parakeets — also called Quaker parrots or parakeets — can lay up to 11 eggs in 24 days, according to the Bronx Zoo website.
On Friday, the Department of Environmental Conservation sent a biologist to look at the condition of the parakeets and the nest, according to Rick Georgeson, spokesperson for DEC.
"It's fairly rare to see them around here," said Georgeson. "But they do typically nest on poles," because of the warmth given off by power lines and lights.
"I'm a bit surprised that they're here," said Richard Guthrie, of New Baltimore, a retired DEC landscape architect and lifelong birdwatcher who writes the birding blog for the Times Union. In the almost 40 years he's lived in the Capital Region he's never heard of a sighting here.
Within minutes of learning of the parakeets' presence in Watervliet, he had already sent out an alert on a hotline for bird watchers.
The birds are native to South America, although they have long been settled in areas around New York City and Connecticut, and as far north as Quebec, according to a New York Times article.
Georgeson believes the parakeets might have moved up from downstate.
Georgeson said, the DEC has no plans to remove the parakeets or the nest — although nests built near wires and transformers do pose a fire hazard.
"We are going to watch and wait," said Georgeson.