Monk parakeet

The monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), also known as the monk parrot or Quaker parrot, is a species of true parrot in the family Psittacidae. It is a small, bright-green parrot with a greyish breast and greenish-yellow abdomen. Its average lifespan is approximately 15 years. It originates from the temperate to subtropical areas of South America. Self-sustaining feral populations occur in many places, mainly in areas of similar climate in North America and Europe.
The monk parakeet was described by French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle, which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name, but in 1783, Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Psittacus monachus in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées. As Buffon did not specify the origin of his specimen, in 1937 the American ornithologist James Peters assigned the type location as Montevideo, Uruguay. The monk parakeet is now placed in the genus Myiopsitta that was introduced by French naturalist Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1854. The genus name combines the Ancient Greek mus, muos meaning "mouse" and the Neo-Latin psitta meaning "parrot", alluding to the mouse-grey face and underparts. The specific epithet monachus is Late Latin for a "monk".
The monk parakeet is one of two species in the genus Myiopsitta, the other being the cliff parakeet (Myiopsitta luchsi). The latter was previously treated as a subspecies of the Monk Parakeet. Due to morphological and behavioural differences, and geographical dissimilarities, the International Ornithological Committee elevated the cliff parakeet to species status in 2015. BirdLife International's Handbook of the Birds of the World followed suit in 2020 and the South American Classification Committee of the American Ornithological Society in late 2024. As of late 2024 the Clements taxonomy retains the cliff parakeet as a subspecies of the monk parakeet. The monk and cliff parakeets' elevational ranges apparently do not overlap, so they are thus entirely, but just barely, allopatric.
Three subspecies are recognized:
The subspecies' ranges meet in the general area of Paraguay, and there they are insufficiently delimited. The distinctness and delimitation of M. m. calita and M. m. cotorra especially require further study.
The nominate subspecies of this parrot is 29 cm (11 in) long on average, with a 48-centimetre (19 in) wingspan, and weighs 100 g (3.5 oz). Females tend to be 10–20% smaller, but can only be reliably sexed by DNA or feather testing. Monk parakeets display very subtle sexual dimorphism in the colouration of their crown and wing coverts, but this is not noticeable to the human eye. It has bright-green upperparts. The forehead and breast are pale grey with darker scalloping and the rest of the underparts are very light-green to yellow. The remiges are dark blue, and the tail is long and tapering. The bill is orange. The call is a loud and throaty chape(-yee) or quak quaki quak-wi quarr, and screeches skveet.
Domestic breeds in colours other than the natural plumage have been produced. These include birds with white, blue, and yellow in place of green. As such colouration provides less camouflage, feral birds are usually of wild-type colouration.
The monk parakeet and the cliff parakeet are the only two parrot species outside some members of the African lovebirds (Agapornis sp.) that build nests. Monk and cliff parakeets are unique among even nesting parrots for their construction of large, external nests in trees or manmade structures instead of using tree cavities.
The monk parrot is a gregarious species which often breeds colonially, building a single large nest with separate entrances for each pair. It is not uncommon, however, for pairs or individuals to nest outside of colonies, especially during the breeding season. In the wild, the colonies can become quite large, with pairs occupying separate "apartments" in composite nests that can reach the size of a small automobile. These nests can attract many other tenants, including some which cohabit with the monk parakeets. These tenants include many other birds, such as pigeons, sparrows, American kestrels, and yellow-billed teal, but mammals like red squirrels may also occupy a nest.
Their 1–11 white eggs are incubated continuously by the female, during which time the male will provide her with food. Unusually for a parrot, monk parakeet pairs occasionally have helper individuals, often grown offspring, which assist with feeding the young (see kin selection).
Monk parakeets have an average lifespan in their natural environment of 6 years. However, birds in captivity can reach 10 – 20 years.
Monk parakeets probably have individual voice prints that allow them to recognize each other, independently from the used call type.
In both their native South America, as well as areas where they have been introduced, monk parakeets are among the most destructive birds for crops. Several countries have implemented measures to control the spread of feral populations; nest removal is a common practice in the United States, and the United Kingdom's Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is planning to remove monk parakeet colonies, citing threats to infrastructure and potential crop damage.
Feral populations are often descended from very small founder populations. Being as social and intelligent as they are, monk parakeets develop some cultural traditions, namely vocal dialects that differ between groups. In populations descended from a large number of birds, a range of "dialects" exists. If the founder population is small, however, a process similar to genetic drift may occur if prominent founders vocalize in an unusual "dialect", with this particular way of vocalizing becoming established in the resulting feral colony. For example, no fewer than three different "dialects" occur among the feral monk parrots of the Milford, Connecticut, metropolitan area.
In its native range, the monk parakeet is very common. In Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay, monk parakeets are regarded as major agricultural pests (as noted by Charles Darwin, among others). Their population explosion in South American rural areas seems to be associated with the expansion of eucalyptus forestry for paper pulp production, which offers the bird the opportunity to build protected nests in artificial forests where ecological competition from other species is limited.
Feral populations have been recorded in Europe, the Americas, North Africa, the Middle East, and East and Southeast Asia.
It is estimated that monk parakeets in Spain account for more than 80% of Europe's feral population. As an invasive species, it harms local fauna such as pigeons and sparrows, as well as crops. Spain has outlawed the possession and trafficking of monk parakeets since 2013. Madrid had the greatest population of monk parakeets in Europe, with 10,800 as of June 2015, and the population in Barcelona was estimated at 5000 in the same year. Between 2013 and 2021, the monk parakeet population in Seville increased from 1200 to 6300 individuals.
Other locations with documented populations include:
In Greece, monk parakeets have established breeding colonies in the National Garden, Athens.
In the United Kingdom, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans in 2011 to control them, countering the threat to infrastructure, crops, and native British wildlife by trapping and rehoming, removing nests, and shooting when necessary.
Groups of monk parakeets can be found in the Belgian capital city Brussels and its surrounding areas. They have been living in the wild at least since the 1970s.
Monk parakeet populations have previously been reported in Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Czechia, but have not survived; the relatively colder weather in these countries likely contributes to these failed invasions. Other populations in the U.K., France, and the Netherlands have also similarly declined into extirpation.
Populations have been documented in:
The species has in recent years expanded its range in Brazil, where a self-sustaining population occurs in the downtown area of Rio de Janeiro. Since this population occurs far from the bird's original range in Brazil – it was only found in the far south and southwest – it is most probably a consequence of escapees from the pet trade. In Rio de Janeiro, the bird can be easily seen at the Aterro do Flamengo gardens – where it nests on palm trees and feeds on their fruit; the Rio birds seem to favour nesting amid the leaves of coconut palm trees, and in the vicinity of the neighboring domestic flight terminal, the Santos Dumont Airport and in the gardens of Quinta da Boa Vista, where communal nests roughly 1 m in diameter have been seen. In Santa Catarina State, probable escapees have been reported on occasion for quite some time, and a feral population seems to have established itself in Florianópolis early in the first decade of the 21st century when birds were observed feeding right next to the highway in the Rio Vermelho-Vargem Grande area.
A breeding population on the island of Eleuthera was present from 1985 to the mid 1990s, but had disappeared by 1996, possibly due to the impact of hurricanes.
In 1984, six monk parakeets were released from a pet store in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, a suburb of Montreal, Quebec; in the following few years, individual birds continued to be sighted in the Montreal area. In May 1987, monk parakeets were recorded breeding in Canada for the first time in the Montreal suburb of Laval; this constitutes the northernmost continental breeding record for the species.
The monk parakeet was first recorded in Mexico City between 1994 – 1995. As of 2015, monk parakeets have been reported in 97 Mexican cities, and in all regions of the country.
Following a 2008 ban on the capture and sale of native parrot species, the legal pet market pivoted to the sale of monk parakeets, which likely increased the number of escapees and subsequent feral populations. Sometimes, the head and breast feathers of monk parakeets are dyed yellow to deceive uninformed buyers, mimicking the endangered yellow-headed amazon.
Thousands of monk parakeets were imported to the United States between the 1960s and the 1980s as pets. Many escaped or were intentionally released, and populations were allowed to proliferate. By the early 1970s, M. monachus was established in seven states, and by 1995, it had spread to eight more. In Florida alone, estimates range from 150,000 to 500,000. Austin, Dallas, and Houston, Texas, also have thriving monk parakeet populations.
As one of the few temperate-zone parrots, the monk parakeet is able to survive cold climates (partly because they build communal nests about heat-producing electrical equipment atop utility poles), and colonies exist as far north as New York City, Long Island, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon. Edgewater, New Jersey has had a colony since 1980. This hardiness makes this species second only to the rose-ringed parakeet among parrots as a successful introduced species. Their habit of building nests on warm electrical equipment is a serious fire risk.
In 2012, a pair of monk parakeets attempted nesting in Watervliet, New York, about 240 km (150 mi) north of New York City, near Albany, New York. Prior to egg-laying, one bird was captured and the nest eventually was removed due to concerns that the nest built adjacent to an electrical transformer created a fire hazard.
They have also found a home in Brooklyn, and Queens, New York, notably in Green-Wood Cemetery, with some speculating they were accidentally released at John F. Kennedy Airport in the 1960s. Several stories exist on the parakeets' introduction to the city, though their arrival is agreed to have been in the 1960s, following importation from Argentina. They thrive in Brooklyn, Queens, and western Long Island due to their preference for nesting in utility poles; populations have not expanded to Manhattan because of the borough's underground wiring.
The population in Chicago is estimated to be at 1,000 birds, with healthy colonies located in several of the city's parks. According to University of Chicago ornithologist Dr. Stephen Pruett-Jones, the population originated in the pet trade. The first documented parrot nest in Chicago dates to 1973. The species thrives despite harsh winters; attempts to remove them have been resisted by Hyde Park residents, including Mayor Harold Washington. The birds are generally welcomed in the city, especially by bird watchers, and were the subject of a 2012 ornithological study.
Monk parakeets are highly intelligent, social birds. Those kept as pets routinely develop vocabularies of scores of words and phrases. Due to this early speaking ability, it is overtaking the cockatiel as the favourite bird to teach to talk. Another contributing factor to growing popularity is that this bird has a shorter lifespan and lower price than African grey parrots.
Because of monk parakeets' listing as an agricultural pest and invasive species, the U.S. states of California, Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, as well as Western Australia outlaw their sale and ownership. In Connecticut, one can own monk parakeets, but cannot sell or breed them. In New York and Virginia, one can own monk parakeets with banding and registration. In Rhode Island, an exotic animal possession permit is required for ownership. In Ohio, owning one is legal if the bird's flight feathers are clipped or it is incapable of free flight.