Least ConcernMonk Parakeet
Myiopsitta monachus
15 countries25 parks
Species group · Birds
WAnimals has 4 species of parrot, spread across 2 families (Psittacidae, Psittaculidae).
Ranges calculated from the profiles that record the figure, not from all 4.
Each one has its own full profile. This group does not replace them: it brings them together.
1 species in this group is in a threatened category according to the IUCN.
Recorded in 35 countries. The ones with the most species in the group:
It is the only parrot that builds communal stick nests; it is invasive in Madrid and Barcelona.
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It is the only parrot in the world that builds a nest: its communal structures of twigs can reach the size of a small car, weigh more than two hundred kilos and house dozens of pairs in separate chambers.
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Those nests also shelter other species: in South America they are occupied by ducks, falcons and opossums, and in Spanish cities they cause problems when their weight breaks the branches of street trees.
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The Abaco subspecies, in the Bahamas, nests underground: it occupies cavities in the limestone ground instead of tree holes, the only exception within its species.
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That underground nesting protects it from hurricanes but leaves it defenceless against feral cats, and cat control has been the decisive measure in its recovery on Abaco.
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In Cuba it remains a traditional cage bird, and the taking of chicks from nests is the main cause of its decline on the island.
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It was introduced to Puerto Rico, where it competes for nest holes with the Puerto Rican amazon, one of the most threatened parrots in the world: a vulnerable species turned into a problem for one that is more so.
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It also nests in the walls of limestone cliffs, not only in trees, which has let it survive in parts of Haiti where almost no forest remains.
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