Monk Parakeet

We photographed a Monk Parakeet perched atop a field light pole at the Pelican Blvd. Baseball Fields in Ft Myers, Florida, on 19 January 2018. Monk Parakeets are naturally found in southern South America, north to southern Brazil and Bolivia. They are popular pets—97% of pet parrots from South America are this species— and often escape. Furthermore, being the only parrot that does not nest in cavities (using large, stick nests instead and maintaining the nests all year), they tolerate cold weather. Free-flying Monk Parakeets were first found in the United States in the 1960s. They are now found in many cities in the US and in Europe and Israel.

This parrot prefers urban areas and are difficult to control. Although the nests can cause power failures or fires as the birds nest on powerlines or transformers, people often resist efforts to reduce flock numbers. Early fears of Monk Parakeets’ causing crop damage have not materialized. Statistics and other information for this blog are from Burgio et al. (2016).