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Oh, boy!! So I'm a winner in the Monk Parakeet contest. But they don't say
what I won. If I got first prize maybe it's a free trip to Brooklyn, so more Oh,
boy!! If I got second prize maybe it's unlimited fee trips to inspect
progress on Jon Stanhope's GDE. If the latter, I'm gonna read the fine print on
the entry form next time!
If you travel down Argentina way you can find Monk Parakeet nests (like,
they're not easy to overlook) particularly in eucalyptus trees which they appear
to prefer over the native trees. Maybe that's because it's too far to fly to the
native woodlands these days. Anecdotal evidence has it that larger clutches are
usually raised in the eucalypts than in the native trees.
The MPs (Monk Parakeets, that is, not the military fuzz) prefer to use
really thorny branches with which to build their breeding barracks that
become very large. So large, in fact, quite hefty birds, like jabirus,
often nest atop the parakeets' communal effort.
During the off season, MPs use their nests as dormitories, and
refurbish/extend when the fires of spring re-ignite their desire to hear
the patter of tiny, begging bills again.
John K. Layton
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