Usually, City Councilman Tony Avella (D−Bayside) is wise when it comes to representing northeast Queens. His recent opposition to Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s expanding term limits is commendable and noble.
But his proposal to protect, and thus increase, the breeding population of South American Quaker parrots may not be such a good idea. He apparently has not heard of parrot fever, which is infectious to humans.
Diseased parrots’ droppings, when they end up on the street or other non−grassy areas, are not absorbed by the soil. Instead, they dry up and become airborne. When dried parrot fecal matter enters people’s noses or throats, the moisture in those organs reacts to the droppings, causing headaches, fever and other ailments.
Whatever Avella wants to do with them to protect them is well−meaning, but parrots do not belong on street poles. Wooded bird sanctuaries would be better, such as the 5−mile stretch along the Rockaways along Cross Bay Boulevard.
Gladys Green
Beechhurst
