Alternative name Quaker Parrot
- Myiopsitta monachus
Includes Cliff Parakeet
Identification
L. 29 cm
Ws. 48 cm
Weight 100g
Females tend to be 10-20% smaller.
- Bright green upperparts
- Pale grey forehead and breast
- Light greenish-yellow underparts
- Dark blue flight feathers
- Long tapered tail
- Orange bill
Distribution
South America: found in Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
Feral populations are located across North America and in several places in Europe and the [[Middle East]. These seems to have originated primarily from nominate M. m. monachus, but populations in North America also originated in part from subspecies M. m. cotorra.
Taxonomy
It is the only member of the genus Myiopsitta. There are four subspecies[1]:
- M. m. cotorra:
- M. m. monachus:
- M. m. calita:
- Western Argentina (Salta to western Córdoba, Mendoza and La Pampa)
- M. m. luchsi: sometimes split as Cliff Parakeet
- Xeric intermontane valleys of central Bolivia
Habitat
Bushes and trees in city parks.
Behaviour
Gregarious.
Diet
The diet includes seeds and maize crops.
Breeding
It builds a stick nest, in a tree or on a man-made structure. It often breeds colonially, building a single large nest, each pair having its own entrance. The clutch consists of 5-12 eggs which is incubated for about 24 days. M. m. luchsi differs in building nest colonies around bromeliads situated on steep cliff sides, even when more typical nest sites are available locally.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Birdloversonline
- Wikipedia
- Birdforum thread discussing the potential split of Cliff Parakeet
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Monk Parakeet. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 27 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Monk_Parakeet
External Links
Search the Gallery using the scientific name:
Search the Gallery using the common name:
GSearch checked for 2020 platform.
