The Monk Parakeet, also known as the Quaker Parrot, is a species of parrot that originates in the temperate areas of Argentina and Brazil in South America.
It 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. Monk Parakeets often breed 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 car. Their 5-12 eggs hatch in about 24 days.
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.
