Monk Parakeet in Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York

 In the late 1960s the market for exotic birds in the United States was taking off as more and more people came to enjoy the parrots’ intelligence and sociability. Sensing an opportunity, some 60,000 of Argentina’s monk parrots were rounded up and sent to American pet shops. In 1968 alone, nearly 12,000 monk parrots were brought to the United States.

Exactly how the birds got from being on their way to pet shops to living in the wild in Green-Wood Cemetery, however, is a bit fuzzy.

The most popular version of the story says, an unmarked crate arrived at New York’s JFK Airport in 1967. A curious airport employee opened the mysterious crate to see what was inside. Suddenly, and with quite a flutter, the colorful birds escaped. A similar version states the “curious employee” was actually an individual with mafia ties looking to pilfer whatever was inside the crate.

for more of this story go to: https://untappedcities.com/2015/12/03/daily-what-the-monk-parrots-of-green-wood-cemetery-in-brooklyn/

Canon Eos 40D, Canon 28-135lens@135mm, 1/400@f10, iso 200.