Okay, I’ll admit it … I love to the bird the unlovable … the undesirable birds of south Florida. While eBird and Cornell may hold up their collective noses at these two bird species, I actually went out looking specifically for these two colorful characters yesterday, and I was successful! What were the focus of my explorations?

• Monk Parakeets: From eBird – “Monk Parakeets, native to South America and long popular in the pet trade, established wild populations here in the 1960s. These social parakeets nest communally and dozens live together year-round in large, multifamily stick nests built in trees and on power poles.” My focus were the Pelican Baseball Fields in Cape Coral where MOST people go to see the Burrowing Owls, and yes I did see the small owls, but my focus and major time spent was trying to find and capture the green birds on camera. Okay, I’ll admit I did have a pet parakeet in the 1970’s.
• Gray-Headed Swamphen: From eBird – “Originally from southern Asia, it became established in southern Florida in the mid-1990s when birds escaped from captivity and began breeding.” My search was back once more at Harns Marsh.

Remember, the Ring-Necked Pheasant which folks love to see and photograph was also an import circa 1890 … from China! (see eBird). We now consider this bird a native … no star is listed next to its species name on an eBird report (unless out of range near a game farm).

Do you bird the undesirables? the unpopular? Remember, whatever birds you prefer are fine. Personal enjoyment is the key!

Gray-Headed Swamphen (nest construction in process)

Monk Parakeets (mating time)