Monk Parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus
Monk Parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus monachus. Birds photographed in the greater Mexico City area, March 2021. Photographs and identification courtesy of Marina Sutormina, Stockholm, Sweden.
The Monk Parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus monachus, is one of four subspecies of Monk Parakeet and a member of the Psittacidae Family of New World and African Parrots, which has one hundred seventy-five members placed in thirty-seven genera, and the sole global species of the Myiopsitta Genus. They are also known as the Gray-headed or Gray-breasted Parakeet, the Quaker Conure, and the Quaker Parakeet.
The Monk Parakeet is small to medium sized. They have a gray head and breast and a green back with dark edges of feathers creating a scaly appearance and flat yellow abdomen. They have a robust yellowish-brown bill; their iris is dark brown, and their legs and feet are gray.
The Monk Parakeet inhabits forests, forestry plantations, orchards, savannas, and urban settlements at elevations up to 2,500 m (8,200 feet). They are a highly social species found in small groups or flocks and are very gregarious chattering incessantly. They are swift and agile flyers and year-round non-migratory residents. Their diets consist of berries, blossoms, fruits, nuts, and seeds. They fly in close proximity. They have lifespans of up to six years in the wild and up to fifteen years in captivity.
The Monk Parakeet is native to South America being found in Argentina, Bolivia, southern Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. In Mexico the monachus subspecies has established feral populations in Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Guanajuato, Mexico, Michoacán, Morelia, Puebla, and Oaxaca with all birds originating from cage releases from the pet trade. They are a highly successful invader with rapid population growths which is attributed to their ability to adapt to human urban, suburban, rural and agriculture fields, tolerance of wide temperature ranges (41oC to -33oC) and communal year–round nesting with the nest built in trees and man-made structures.
The Monk Parakeet, due its gray head and breast, is a straightforward identification that cannot be easily confused with any other species.
From a conservation perspective the Monk Parakeet has not been formally evaluated but their populations are expanding and widely distributed. They are the number one most imported bird into the United States from South America by the pet trade accounting for 97% of all parrot exports. The vast majority of these exports are of the monachus subspecies that originate from southern Brazil, Uruguay and northeast Argentine. Both accidental and intentional releases of these captive birds have occurred all too often. They have the ability to quickly colonize in their new environments and become quickly established. The Monk Parakeet has been utilized by some cultures as a human food. They are also considered to be a highly invasive potentially very dangerous intruder into new regions. In some areas they are considered to be agriculture pests destroying corn, mangos, rice, sorghum, sunflower, and wheat crops. They are also known to mob and kill a number of native species where introduced. They are also known to disseminate Newcastle disease. Efforts to eradicate the species from some regions have been unsuccessful. Such efforts have drawn the attention of conservationists and have become highly controversial.