MD Osprey:

As I indicated earlier, there is no current priority on reviewing 
Monk Parakeet reports ... at this time, given other work in the 
committee's queue. Since the identification is straightforward, all 
reports will most likely be found to be "ID OK/Questionable Origin." 
If at some point in the future, either a pattern of vagrancy in the 
Mid-Atlantic area or local colonization develops, then we will have 
the information in our files to determine when the species first 
started to become established in MD/DC (if they were to do so). If we 
don't document sightings, then we may not be able to reconstruct the 
natural history of the species by separating isolated 
escaped/released birds from those that might have formed a breeding colony.

Our committee's current priorities are still on cleaning up the 
historical backlog and the more current rarities.

If you want to see the reports of Monk Parakeets are in the MD/DCRC 
database, go to ...

         http://www.mdbirds.org/mddcrc/pdf/mddatabase.pdf   (this is 
a large PDF document - do not print it!

... and do a search/find for "Monk" and you will be taken to the Monk 
Parakeet list of reports. Note that each of the "unreviewable" 
reports is a published, but undocumented sighting. Bob Ringler 
probably has more Monk Parakeet reports in his Maryland Birdlife "The 
Seasons" database. As I said, this species is just not that high on 
the current priority list, at this time.

FYI, about 10 years ago, I began to research the natural history and 
the expansion of the Monk Parakeet, especially outside of Florida) 
for a journal paper, but the project became much larger than I 
originally thought. I still have a box full of reference material. 
Maybe some day ... after I finish with my current Red-faced Cormorant 
magnus opus ... but I digress ...

Mary LaMarca already posted the web link I was going to recommend (it 
covers much of the research that I also did years ago).

Hope this helps ...

Phil


P.S. Richard Wood - don't bother to send me any more off-line 
negative records committee remarks. Save your energy!



At 14:42 08/17/2006, Norm Saunders wrote:
>I got some very good photographs of the Red Clay Road bird (which 
>now languish in the archives of the MD/DC Records Committee awaiting 
>further long-delayed action...grin).



===================================================
Phil Davis, Secretary
MD/DC Records Committee
2549 Vale Court
Davidsonville, Maryland  21035     USA
301-261-0184
mailto:[log in to unmask]

MD/DCRC Web site:  http://www.MDBirds.org/mddcrc/rcindex.html
===================================================