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Carolina Parakeets
Although they looked tropical, Carolina Parakeets didn't migrate south in the winter but weathered the cold. These jewel-colored birds reminded one German settler of Christmas trees back home:
"These flocks of paroquets were ornaments in the [sycamore] trees stripped of their foliage in winter. The bright green color of the birds was in such marked contrast with white bark; the many yellow heads looked like so many candles."
-- Gert Goebel, Missouri, 1877 |