Reflecting on Lady Jane and Incas

Mick Group
Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve Naturalist

(2/2019) You’ve likely never heard of them, let alone ever seen them. But as we look back on 2018 it is important to recognize the past year as the 100th anniversary of their passing. They were considered to be the last two that remained of their species. The only parrots known to be native to North America.

Known as the Carolina Parakeet or conure, they were about the size of a mourning dove, mostly green in color with a yellow-orange head and neck. Fruit and nuts or seeds were their primary food. Their large flocks were noisy in flight. They flew, fed and roosted together.

Pennsylvania’s main flocks were known to be west of the Alleghanies. They were not migratory. Instead, they spent most of their time near an abundant food source not far from a favorite roosting area. Pennsylvania is largely regarded as the northern most exterior of the birds’ range. Their range stretches south to Florida and most of the south eastern states. The last recognized sightings in Pennsylvania were in the later 1860’s. Their numbers had been in decline during the 1800’s.

Like the passenger pigeon, their earlier numbers are hard to imagine today. Thus, begs the question, "what happened"? Like most extinction of species, it is usually several factors. The decrease in the bird’s population seems to parallel colonial expansion. The clearing of forest for agriculture certainly had an impact on habitat. The parakeets were cavity nesters. The loss of new trees would have had an impact. This was made more challenging by honey bees that use the same hollow trees for their colonies. The number of honey bees had increased in numbers due to increases in importation of them for the fruit industry’s need for pollination of their fruit.

Two considerations are possible disease, which we have no evidence of, and sport shooting. Because of the bird’s appetite for fruit and seeds, many farmers considered them a pest, which was made even more complicated by their perceived inability to leave the wounded or dead behind. Like some other bird species, the flock would return to the victims by circling back only to become part of the carnage.

Not much else is recorded about these birds. The records that do exist vary. Some say they built stick nests with two-six eggs. Most believe that nesting occurred in March or April. Fledging occurred in mid-summer. The immature birds lacked the colorful yellow heads and neck colors. Observations in Pennsylvania were made by Alexander Wilson who is largely revered as the father of American ornithology. His 15th century studies indicate a varied diet of weed seeds, tree fruits and nuts including mulberries.

Stories reported that when trees were felled for firewood, the birds made no attempt to escape. This, along with the previous mentioned facts, most likely led to the parakeets being in trouble even before the passenger pigeon. During the 1830’s, John Audubon wrote to this effect, although opinions vary on this.

While seldom seen north of south western PA, they were reported to be occasionally seen northwest of Albany, New York. In Pennsylvania, small flocks were reported mid-state, and some flocks in the mid 1800’s around Shermans Creek in Perry County. However, after the Civil War, they were no longer seen in the Mid-Atlantic states. Their numbers continued to decline throughout the southern states as well. Ironically, some researchers such as Mikko Saikku, who wrote in "The Extinction of the Carolina Parakeet," reported that in Chapman’s 1934 handbook of "Birds of Eastern North America." The author reported that the last Carolina Parakeet was killed northeast of Lake Okeechobee where in 1904 he saw thirteen and shot four. This is supposedly the last from the wild recorded of them.

Sixteen of the birds were acquired by the Cincinnati Zoo from Florida for less than $50. By 1899, these last birds died down to the pair, Lady Jane and Incas. She would die in 1917. Incas died February 21, 1918. Much speculation existed into the 1930’s as to whether or not these were the last of their kind.

Like the similar reports of the ivory billed woodpecker, their credibility was questionable. In 1937, Roger Tory Peterson, among others, held a field expedition in South Carolina after reported sightings. None were seen. Even as late as 2009 a sighting was reported from Honduras. This one, like others, were considered a hoax.

Even with the bird’s hardiness, its collapse as a species is largely attributed to hunting and sport shooting, the pet and plume trade, deforestation, predators, competition with honey bees for the cavity nesting sites, behavior of the flocks, and food supply. While some experts still find this all hard to comprehend, their decline seems to follow American colonization east to west.

In the end, like other species, once populations proportion to a certain level, extinction seems inevitable. Questions remain regarding some of the issues. Albeit, it’s another case of too little, too late.

At Strawberry Hill in Fairfield, two examples of the Carolina Parakeet may be seen in the nature center. They, along with several other birds, are displayed in a glass case, serving as a reminder of what once was taken for granted. And in some ways, hard to believe.

Strawberry Hill Nature Preserve and Environmental Center is a non-profit environmental education and conservation organization located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of south-central Pennsylvania in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. To learn more about all they offer, we encourage you to visit them at 1537 Mt Hope Rd, Fairfield, PA 17320, or visit them on-line at www.strawberryhill.org