Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Allen T. Chartier
Cayman remains stable. Guadeloupe has only one nest site remaining and there is a single record from St. Croix, Virgin Islands. The population in the Bahamas is apparently extirpated.
The Monk Parakeet is more cold-tolerant than many other parrots commonly kept as pets due to its temperate distribution in South America. Other species are also found flying free in Michigan from time to time, including Budgerigar, Cockateil, Lovebirds, African Gray Parrot, and even some large macaws, none of which can survive our winters. The Monk Parakeet has established breeding colonies in urban parks and suburbs primarily in subtropical locales within the United States, especially Florida (Pranty 2005) and Texas (Rappole and Blacklock 1994). Florida. December 2007. © Robert Epstein
Moskoff (2003) suggests that one factor It has been more than a century since wild correlating with the distribution of the Monk parrots graced the skies of the southern United Parakeet in temperate regions of the U.S. is that States. Since then importation and release, or established colonies tend to be in areas where escape, of many species from around the world quarantine stations formerly operated. Breeding has brought parrots back to some areas of the in the northeastern U.S. is localized, with country. At least 76 species of parrots have been slightly expanding populations limited mainly to found flying free in Florida (Pranty 2005) but New York City (Andrle and Carroll 1988, few are considered as established breeding McGowan and Corwin 2008) and Chicago, species. The tendency for extreme longevity in Illinois (Hyman and Pruett-Jones 1995, Kleen et this family tends to complicate judgements of al. 2004). Of 3,015 individuals counted on whether a species has an established, self- Christmas Bird Counts in 2001-2002, most were sustaining breeding population. The Monk in Florida with 908 in Connecticut and lesser Parakeet is native to the savannas in southern numbers in Rhode Island, Illinois, New Jersey, South America, also occurring near human New York, Oregon, and Texas (Moskoff 2003a, habitations (Collar 1997, Forshaw 1978, Juniper Pranty and Garrett 2003). The Chicago and Parr 1998). It is the only communally population was counted at slightly more than nesting species of parrot (Collar 1997, Forshaw 100 birds on the 1999-2000 Christmas Bird 1978, Juniper and Parr 1998), and their unique Count (Moskoff 2003). large stick nests are very conspicuous and easy to find. They are widely kept as cage birds and There were a few records of birds present in have become established as an exotic breeding Indiana during their Atlas period (1985-1990) species in many areas outside their natural but no nests were found (Castrale et al. 1998). range. Raffaele et al. (1998) provided a Successful breeding was in the form of a single summary of the status of the Monk Parakeet in nest in Hammond, Indiana in 2005 (Brock the Caribbean. It is expanding its range on 2006). The few Michigan nesting records from Puerto Rico while the feral population on Grand
© 2010 Kalamazoo Nature Center Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Allen T. Chartier
1970 to 1987 (Payne 1983, Adams 1991) did not result in the species becoming established in the state. The Monk Parakeet was included in MBBA I on the basis of a single confirmed nest in Oakland County in summer of 1983, and sight records from St. Clair County in August 1985 and Oakland County in November 1987 (Adams 1991). There was only a single sight record of Monk Parakeet during the MBBA II atlas period, a bird at a feeder in Hamtramck, Wayne County. Kathy Smith reported that this bird was ”present for weeks” prior to 25 November 2006 (Dombroski 2007). There were no reports during the inter-Atlas period (1989- 2000). It is likely that escaped/released individuals have been present during this time but no nests, which are quite noticeable, were reported.
Initial fears that this species may become an agricultural pest in the U.S. have not been realized as it has not become widely established beyond urban centers mainly in Florida, Texas, New York, and Illinois. Control methods in South America, as well as in the U.S., have been largely ineffective (Spreyer and Brucher 1998). Within the U.S., extermination or recapture efforts have sometimes led to public opposition (Moskoff 2003).
© 2010 Kalamazoo Nature Center Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Allen T. Chartier
Literature Cited Moskoff, W. 2003a. Monk Parakeets in Urban Areas Outside Chicago. Birding 35(3): 274- Adams Jr., Raymond J. 1991. Monk Parakeet. In 277. Brewer, R, GA McPeek, and RJ Adams Jr. Payne, R.B. 1983. A Distributional Checklist of 1991. The Atlas of Breeding Birds of the Birds of Michigan. MP 164. University Michigan. Michigan State University Press. of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Ann East Lansing, MI. Arbor, MI. Andrle, R.F. and J.R. Carroll. 1998. The Atlas of Pranty, B. 2005. A Birder’s Guide to Florida. Breeding Birds in New York State. Cornell American Birding Association. Colorado University Press, Ithaca, NY. Springs, CO. Brock, K. 2006. Brock’s Birds of Indiana CD. Pranty, B., and K.L. Garrett. 2003. The Parrot Amos W. Butler Audubon Society. Fauna of the ABA Area: A Current Look. Indianapolis, IN. Birding 35(3): 248-261. Castrale, J.S, E.M. Hopkins, and C.E. Keller. Raffaele, H., J. Wiley, O. Garrido, A. Keith, and 1998. Atlas of Breeding Birds of Indiana. J. Raffaele. 1998. A Guide to the Birds of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, West Indies. Princeton University Press. Division of Fish and Wildlife, Nongame and Princeton, NJ. Endangered Wildlife Program. Indianapolis, Rappole, J.H. and G.W. Blacklock. 1994. A IN. Field Guide: Birds of Texas. Texas A&M Collar, N.J. 1997. Family Psittacidae (Parrots). University Press. College Station, TX. Pp. 280-479 In del Hoyo, J., A. Elliott, and Spreyer, M.F. and E.H. Bucher. 1998. Monk J. Sargatal eds. Handbook of Birds of the Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus). In The World. Vol. 4. Sandgrouse to Cuckoos. Lynx Birds of North America, No. 322 (A Poole Edicions, Barcelona. and F Gill, eds.). The Birds of North Dombroski, L. 2007. Michigan Bird Survey: America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA. Autumn 2006 (August-November). Michigan Birds and Natural History 14(2): Suggested Citation 55-83. Forshaw, J.M. 1978. Parrots of the World. Chartier, A.T. 2010. Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta T.F.H. Publications Inc. Neptune, NJ. monachus). In Chartier, A.T., J.J. Baldy, and Hyman, J., and S. Pruett-Jones. 1995. Natural J.M. Brenneman (eds.). 2010. The Second History of the Monk Parakeet in Hyde Park, Michigan Breeding Bird Atlas. Kalamazoo Chicago. Wilson Bulletin 107(3): 510-517. Nature Center. Kalamazoo, MI. Accessed Juniper, T., and M. Parr. 1998. Parrots: A Guide online at:
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