Michelle Buziak

Watercolor Before being driven to extinction in the early 1900’s the Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) thrived all throughout the Eastern and Midwestern United States. They loved to eat nuts, seeds and fruits, including the seeds of the toxic cocklebur that is also pictured. The birds were largely unaffected by the toxins in the seeds, and also managed to become toxic themselves if they consumed enough.