Monk Parakeet

About the Monk Parakeet

Bright green, loud, and thoroughly urban, the Monk Parakeet is Texas' established wild parrot - a South American native that escaped or was released from the pet trade decades ago and decided the state's cities suited it fine. Austin, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio all host thriving colonies.

The Monk is the only parrot on Earth that builds a stick nest, and it builds like a contractor with no budget cap: huge communal structures of interwoven twigs with separate chambers for each pair, stacked onto ballpark light standards, utility towers, and palm trees. The nests are used year-round, which is a key to the species' success in climates far colder than its homeland.

Flocks announce themselves long before they arrive - a squeaky, chattering racket - then sweep in flashing gray breasts and blue flight feathers among all that green.

Watching a colony work its nest, bickering and hauling twigs, is some of the best free entertainment in Texas birding, and a reminder that a few of the state's most familiar wild neighbors got here by accident.