An exciting discovery by Central Park birdwatcher

The nest, under the airconditioner


The location
Photos by Rebekah Creshkoff

Rebekah Creshkoff is one of my oldest Central Park friends. No, no, I don't mean that she's old -- she's actually a young woman. I mean I've known her a long, long time, ever since I started coming to the park regularly. That was probably around 1990.

She's a great birder, and a very good observer of the world around her. I'm not surprised that she made this remarkable discovery. Here's her letter that arrived on November 19, 2006

Marie, I discovered a Monk Parakeet nest this morning. They are building beneath an air conditioner on the top floor of a 6-story building at the NW corner of 103rd and Amsterdam. Is this a Manhattan first?

At about 9:45 am this morning, I was biking up Amsterdam when I heard a parrot-like noise. It didn't sound anxious (as a cockatiel owner, I'm familiar with what anxious parrots sound like). I looked and quickly spotted a Monk Parakeet perched on the railing of a fire escape of the building described above.

After a few moments, it flew east, where a pedestrian mall leads into the grounds of the Frederick Douglass housing project, where there are a number of of mature London Planes. I lost track of the bird, then spotted it in the trees, lost track again... then a 2nd bird flew overhead, W to E, and also landed in the Planes. Then I saw one of the birds fly W with a long twig trailing from its beak. That's when I tracked it to the air conditioner.

I took several pictures using a digital zoom, but the attached (the best of the bunch) reflects some camera shake. Went back a half-hour ago equipped with a better camera plus good advice from Lenny, [Rebekah's husband -MW] but the birds weren't home.