Quaker Parrot

The Quaker Parrot, more formally called the Monk Parakeet, is a medium-small South American parrot notable for being the only parrot species that constructs its own stick nest rather than using a natural cavity.

Appearance

The upperparts are bright green, while the forehead, face, throat, and breast are pale grey with a faint scalloped pattern. The belly shows a yellowish-green wash, the flight feathers are tinged blue, and the bill is pale horn-colored.

Key field marks

• Pale grey face, throat, and breast with fine scalloping
• Bright green crown, back, and wings
• Pale horn-colored bill
• Large communal stick nests in trees or on structures, a diagnostic behavioral clue

Similar species

Most other green parakeets sharing its range, such as the Mitred Parakeet, lack the grey face and breast. The presence of an enormous, multi-chambered stick nest, often visible on utility poles or tall trees, is itself a strong identification clue since no other parrot builds this type of structure.

Range

Native to temperate and subtropical South America, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

Habitat

It occupies savanna, palm groves, open woodland, farmland, and readily adapts to urban and suburban environments with scattered trees.

Migration

Non-migratory. Because its insulated stick nests provide effective shelter, feral populations established from escaped birds have persisted in a range of temperate climates outside its native range, including parts of the United States and Europe, tolerating colder winters than most parrot species.

Behavior

Quaker Parrots are highly social, living in colonies and cooperating in the construction and maintenance of communal nest structures used year-round for roosting as well as breeding.

Voice

Calls are loud, harsh, and chattering, often given by multiple birds at once around the nest colony.

Feeding

The diet includes seeds, fruit, buds, blossoms, and agricultural grain, foraged both in trees and on the ground.

Nesting and breeding

Unlike other parrots, Quaker Parrots build large stick nests with multiple internal chambers, each typically housing a single breeding pair, within a shared colonial structure that can grow to considerable size over years of continuous use. These nests are sometimes built on artificial structures such as utility poles.