Hey Guess What?

Chicken Butt!!

Key West in Florida is known for its abundance of chickens that can be spotted roaming throughout its streets.  Being colorful wild birds that crow at all times of the day has earned them the local name of gypsy chickens.

How did these birds get here in the first place?

As people first started colonizing Key West, they brought chickens with them for eggs and meat.  Once the area became more developed, the need to keep personal chickens decreased because of easier access to foods from markets and the mainland.  This resulted in many chickens being released.  However in the 1800s cock fighting grew in popularity, greatly increasing the chicken population.  This practice became outlawed in the 1970s, finally releasing all of the chickens into the wild.  Left to be the local bug control, the population skyrocketed.

Locals of Key West became fed up with the number of gypsy chickens, with their incessant crowing at all hours.  They hired a chicken catcher in 2004 who was a local barber named Armando Parra.  His methods were questionable; it was thought he was killing the birds instead of relocating them to a free range farm.  He was quickly fired but the chickens were still an issue.

Finally the Key West Wildlife Center stepped in around 2010 to rescue, rehabilitate, and relocate gypsy chickens found in Key West.  Any sick, injured, or orphaned chickens are taken in and cared for and fed well then sent to either Peat Marsh Ranch or Ft. Meyers to live out the rest of their lives.

http://nationssouthernmostpoint.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-gypsy-chickens-of-key-west.htmlhttp://www.keepthemflying.org/http://keywestwildlifecenter.org/chickens/https://www.funinkeywest.com/key-west-roosters/http://www.floridarambler.com/funky-florida/key-west-chickens-key-west-roosters/Our group visited the Florida Keys Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center.  This nonprofit conservation organization differs slightly from the Key West Wildlife Center.  They both work to help native birds re-enter into the wild but the Rehabilitation Center has a facility to keep birds that cannot be released.  These birds can be visited by the public and are used to educate them on the local birds and their importance to the Key’s ecosystem.  We spoke to a green parrot that could say hello and bye-bye as well as bark at us.  There were owls with missing eyes and even a pelican with half a beak.  These animals get to live in protected areas where they are safe from the outside world and cannot hurt themselves.  If you have the chance, visit both locations the next time you go to the Keys.