Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 21:11:02 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: David Kidwell Subject: Introduced Birds MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit My question came about with the recent monk parakeet observations. In an e-mail to osprey, one gentleman suggested that while the bird was nice to see, it can't be counted for his list. My question is: At what point does a bird that is not endemic to our region become a 'Bird of Maryland'? The answer appears clear when you read the preface of the yellow book "Not included are exotic waterfowl, parrots and other common cage birds which are probably not of natural occurrence". However, in the same book the Mute Swan and European Starling is listed. So there must be a threshold that an introduced bird must cross to be a 'Bird of Maryland'. Mute swans and starlings are established, while other introduced birds are not. Unfortunately I do not know the natural history of the monk parakeet in our area, so I can't say of its level of establishment. I have seen several monk parakeet nests, but that is the extent of my knowledge. Any help on this subject would be appreciated, and perhaps someone with more knowledge of the parakeet can explain further its local natural history. Thanks, Dave Kidwell ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================