Carolina Parakeet

Fashions changed. Hunters started tracking the birds for their colorful and highly profitable feathers. Forests were cut down to make room for new towns and villages. In the late 1800's the beautiful little parakeet started loosing ground. By the 1920's it was no more.

The Carolina Parakeet was the only parrot native to North America found north of Mexico. It inhabited the deciduous forests of the Eastern Seaboard and the Gulf States. It could be found as far west as Nebraska and along the rivers crossing the Great Plains.

It was a medium size birds, approximately the size of the Common Grackle. It was mostly green. Its head was yellow and its cheeks orange. As with most parrots, its beak was thick and curved.

The farmer's wrath was one of many factors that lead to the demise of the Carolina Parakeet, but several other things factored in as well. Much like the woodpecker and the owl, the Carolina Parakeet were cavity nesters.

What actually caused the demise of the Carolina Parakeet is a mystery. The wrath of the farmers may have been a factor, as well as deforestation and loss of nesting sites. They were hunted for their beautiful feathers, but the decline was rapid. The aforementioned reasons would have lead to a gradual decline. The flocks noted in the late 1800's were healthy and reproducing.

The most likely cause of the bird's extinction appears to be disease. They were a gregarious bird. If one picked up a deadly disease, he would have passed it on. If this was the case, the fact that the Carolina Parakeet resided within the vicinity of human settlements proved to be its undoing.