Monk Parakeet - Ecology and Behavior

Ecology and Behavior

The Monk Parakeet is globally very common, and even the rather localized Cliff Parakeet is generally common. In Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, Monk Parakeets are regarded as major agricultural pests (as noted by Charles Darwin among others). Their population explosion in South American 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. The Cliff Parakeet occasionally plunders maize fields but it is apparently not considered a major pest as there is no serious persecution.

The Monk Parakeet 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. These nests can attract many other tenants including birds of prey such as the Spot-winged Falconet (Spiziapteryx circumcincta), ducks such as the Yellow-billed Teal (Anas flavirostris), and even mammals. Their 5-12 white eggs hatch in about 24 days.

The Cliff Parakeet, as its name implies, rather nests in cliff crevices. This taxon rarely builds communal nests, but individual pairs still prefer to nest in close association.

Unusually for a parrot, Monk Parakeet pairs occasionally have helper individuals, often a grown offspring, which assists with feeding the young (see kin selection).

The lifespan of Monk Parakeets has been given as 15–20 years or as much as 25–30 years; the former might refer to average lifespans in captivity and/or in the wild, while the latter is in the range of maximum lifespans recorded for parakeets.