- It's All About Birds
- Resources for Teachers
- Meet Our Birds
- African Grey Parrot
- Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
- American Crow
- American Kestrel
- Bald Eagle
- Barn Owl
- Black Vulture
- Common Raven
- European Starling
- Ferruginous Hawk
- Golden Eagle
- Great Horned Owl
- Greater Roadrunner
- Harris's Hawk
- Mississippi Kite
- Moluccan Cockatoo
- Monk Parakeets
- Northern Flicker
- Peregrine Falcon
- Sandhill Crane
- Striped Skunk
- Turkey Vulture
- Western Screech-Owl
- Live Bald Eagle Nest Camera
- Sutton Scholarship Awards
- Sutton Natural History Forum
- Oklahoma Birds Listserv and Photo Directory
- Pathfinder Parkway Bird Trail
- What to do with an injured bird
Do you like our eagle cam and want to help support our nonprofit research, conservation, and education work? You can help by making a tax-deductible donation securely online using your credit or debit card or PayPal account. Our major sponsors cover many but not nearly all costs involved with this nest camera project, and your support will help us continue this educational program.
(This button will take you to a secure server for payment.)
Monk Parakeets
Monk Parakeets
"Tic, Tac, and Toe"
(Myiopsitta monachus)
Distribution: Though native to parts of South America, in North America, released populations have thrived and can be found in Alabama, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Virginia. Non-native populations have also been found throughout Europe.
Size: An adult Quaker Parrot weighs about 3.2-4.2 ounces, and can grow to over 11 inches in length.
Diet: Quakers' diets consist of a variety of things, including seeds, leaf buds, fruits, berries, nuts, and blossoms. Occasionally they have been known to eat insects, but it is rare.
Lifespan: Quaker Parrots have been known to live to almost 30 years, although the average is between 15 and 20 years.
Reproduction: Each pair of Quakers can lay 4-7 eggs, with incubation lasting approximately 20 days. Quakers are one of few parrots that build their own nest, and their residence is often composed of several compartments, each with a separate function. One is the incubation chamber, another could be used for feeding older young, while still others could be used by vigilant parents to keep watch.
Did You Know?
- Monk Parakeets are also known as "Quaker Parakeets"
- The Monk Parakeet is the only species in the parrot family that does not nest in a cavity. Instead, it constructs a stick structure that can house a single nest or a larger complex with a dozen or more separate chambers and several nesting pairs.
- Whereas most other parrot species suffer declines as a result of logging and the removal of suitable nest sites, Monk Parakeets easily adapt to the changing landscape, building nests and raising young in altered habitats.
- The species uses and maintains its stick compound year-round. This habit may explain this parakeet's ability to colonize areas with colder winters than in its region of origin.
- Having captive Monk Parakeets is illegal in California, with no exceptions, due to the perceived (yet undocumented) threat of crop destruction by flocks of these small birds.