If I resided in Argentina, Paraguay, or Venezuela and posted this photograph, we'd be celebrating! This is the native habitat of the Blue-crowned Parakeet:
So, this Blue-crowned Parakeet is a non-native (to Florida). I confirmed the identity with a birding group and then checked the Florida Department of Wildlife for information on this exotic species. This means that this bird (there were two of them) escaped or they were released.
And that is not a good thing.
"Members of the parrot family carry Newcastle disease, identified in 1971, which can infect native songbirds, game birds, domestic chickens and turkeys, and other exotic bird species. The native bird species can be infected by smuggled exotic birds and birds not properly quarantined that are released into the wild." - Florida Department of WildlifeThe Department has an Exotic Bird Amnesty adoption program. People with parakeets or parrots are encouraged to not release any pets into the wild—instead, the birds are placed in homes.
About the Blue-crowned Parakeet:
"The Blue-crowned Parakeet occurs in lowland dry forests in South America. A remarkable aspect of this species is that it occupies these deciduous forests in several widely separated regions: in northern Colombia and northern Venezuela; in the interior of northeastern Brazil; and from eastern Bolivia and south-central Brazil south through Paraguay to north-central Argentina. The Blue-crowned Parakeet is a large Aratinga, mostly green with a light blue crown; the extent of the blue is variable geographically, and is most restricted in the subspecies of northeastern Brazil. This species often travel in flocks and may fly long distances between roosting sites and feeding areas."Another way to help preserve Florida's habitat AND this bird species is by not buying one:
"Populations of Blue-crowned Parakeet are suspected to be in decline, due to ongoing habitat loss, and from losses sustained in the international parrot trade."Both quotes are from The Cornell Lab - Neotropical Birds.
