November 22, 2022
Researchers led by a University of Texas at Austin team are finding out that thick billed parrots found at sites in the Southwest were captured locally and not all of them were imported from Mexico. They do not live in the US today due top habitat loss and hunting. They were abundant in the 1930’s in the Southwest from New Mexico to Arizona and northern Mexico. They live in pine forests. The researchers found that at the 10 sites where thick billed parrots have been found all had buildings made of pine timber. All had pine forests near by. They probably captured the parrots when they were gathering timber.
So the idea that all of the brightly colored parrots found in Southwest sites were from Mexico will change.
The research is published in The Wilson Journal of Ornithology.
Eurekalert has the report here:
Mike Ruggeri’s Ancient North America 