Monk parakeets at home on the river

 You never know what you’ll see along Zarzamora Creek or along the other waterways. The other day, we saw four Monk parakeets on the San Antonio River near the old Lone Star Brewery.

These birds are natives of Patagonia, not Texas. Decades ago, their ancestors came as pets in cages. Some escaped. The fate of escaped pets is usually a sad one, but these birds did just fine in this environment.

I have trouble with the concept of “invasive species.” What’s simple and straightforward to most biologists seems like a philosophical swamp to me. The gorgeous Vermilion flycatcher extended its range from northern Mexico to Central Texas when Texans began build dams and making stock tanks and reservoirs after World War I. The Vermilion flycatcher feeds on the aquatic flies that hatch from still — as opposed to running — water. That seems like an extension of range, rather than invasion, to me. And if one species is suited to an environmental niche, does it really matter what accident brought it to the place where it thrives?

You see Monk parakeets around here, but I, at least, see them rarely. I’ve seen others at Benavides Park on the West Side.