The Carolina Parakeet

Carolina Parakeet, 2020, colored pencil on paper, 13.5 x 20 inches

Extinct since 1918, the Carolina parakeet is the only parrot native to the eastern United States. The birds once numbered in the hundreds of thousands and travelled in colorful, raucous flocks of 200 to 300. Though mistreated by humans (hunted for their feathers, considered pests by farmers), current research indicates the Carolina parakeet contracted a fatal poultry disease from domestic chickens. 

This drawing is inspired by John James Audubon’s remark, “I’ve seen branches of trees as completely covered by them as they could possibly be” and based on the Carolina Parakeet specimen at the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History on Pacific Grove, CA.

From Extinct and Endangered Birds, a scrapbook, 2002-present.