The Quaker Parrot
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The Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), also known as the
Quaker Parrot, is a species of parrot that originated in the
temperate areas of Argentina and Brazil in South America. It
is the only member of the genus Myiopsitta.
There are four subspecies:
M. m. monachus, southeastern Brazil, Uruguay, and northeastern
Argentina
M. m. calita, western and southern Argentina
M. m. cotorra, southeastern Bolivia, Paraguay, northern
Argentina, and southern Brazil
M. m. luchsi an isolated population in Bolivia which is
smaller and may deserve species status.
This parrot is, on average, 29 cm long with a 48 cm wingspan,
and weighs 100 g. Females tend to be 10-20% smaller. It has
bright green upperparts. The forehead and breast are pale grey
and the rest of the underparts are very-light green to yellow.
The flight feathers are dark blue, and the tail is long and
tapering. The bill is orange. The call is a loud and throaty
graaa or skveet. Domestic breeds have produced colors other
than the natural plumage; these include white and blue in
place of green.
The Quaker Parrots is the only parrot that builds a stick
nest, in a tree or on a man-made structure, rather than using
a hole in a tree. This gregarious species often breeds
colonially, building a single large nest with separate
entrances for each pair. In the wild, the colonies can become
quite large, with pairs occupying separate "apartments" in
nests that can reach the size of a small automobile. Their
5-12 eggs hatch in about 24 days.
Unusually for a parrot, Monk Parakeet pairs occasionally have
helper individuals, often a grown offspring, which assists
with feeding the young (see kin selection).
Monk Parakeets are highly intelligent, social birds. Those
kept as pets routinely develop large vocabularies.
The Monk Parakeet was brought to the United States in the late
1960s as a pet. Many escaped or were intentionally released,
and populations were allowed to proliferate. By the early
1970s, it was established in seven states, and by 1995 it had
spread to eight more. There are now thought to be
approximately 100,000 in Florida alone.
As one of the few temperate-zone parrots, the Monk Parakeet is
more able than most to survive cold climates, and colonies
exist as far north as New York City, Chicago, Cincinnati, and
communities in coastal Rhode Island and Connecticut. This
hardiness makes this species second only to the Rose-ringed
Parakeet amongst parrots as a successful introduced species.
The lifespan of Monk Parakeets has been quoted to be from
15-20 years to 25-30 years.
In Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, Monk Parakeets are regarded
as major agricultural pests (as Charles Darwin noted). Their
population explosion in South America 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 there is
small ecological competition from other species. In areas
where they have been introduced, some fear that they will harm
crops and native species. Evidence of the harm of these birds
in introduced areas is disputed, and many people oppose
killing a charismatic bird, but there have been local bans and
eradication programs in some areas of the USA. Due to its
invasive species status, a number of states outlaw either
importation, sale, release, or mere possession of a monk
parakeet.
Self-sustaining feral populations have been recorded in seven
US states, Europe, Israel, Bermuda, Puerto Rico, the Canary
Islands and Japan. As it is an open woodlands species, it
adapts readily to urban areas. The species has in recent years
expanded its range in Brazil, where there is now a
self-sustaining population in the downtown area of Rio de
Janeiro. Since this expansion concerns discontinuous areas,
far from the bird's historical range, it is most probably a
consequence of escapes from the pet trade. In Rio, 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 favor nesting amid the leaves of coconut palm trees -
as well as in the vicinity of the neighboring domestic flight
terminal, the Santos Dumont Airport. Outside the USA,
introduced populations do not appear to raise similar
controversy, presumably because of smaller numbers of birds,
or by the fact that their settlement in urban areas does not
pose a threat to agricultural activities.
In addition they have found a home within Greenwood Cemetery
in Brooklyn, New York after an accidental release decades ago.
While the grounds crew initially tried to destroy the
unsightly nests at the entrance gate, they no longer do so,
because the presence of the parrots has reduced the number of
pigeons nesting within it. The management's decision was based
on a comparative chemical analysis of pigeon feces (which
destroy brownstone structures) and Monk Parakeet feces (which
have no ill effect). Oddly then, the Monk Parakeets are in
effect preserving this historic structure.
Quaker parrots have been described as one of the top ten
"talking" bird species, able to learn scores of words and
phrases http://www.butnowyouknow.com/oatmeal.html. This
species is considered especially adept at learning to "talk",
only the African Grey Parrot having a better reputation for
doing so.
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