[Length 11.5 in. Wingspan 19 in.]

Monk Parakeets are birds of the temperate regions of South America. Escaped birds have colonized southern Florida (where they are the most widespread of all the exotic Parrots). Since they come from temperate climate areas (rather than tropical climate areas), they can withstand cold weather, which has allowed them to spread to cities in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States They have also become established in several cities in Texas.

Monk Parakeets build large, communal nests of sticks. They often choose man-made towers for their nests, including lighting towers around athletic fields, cellular telephone towers, telephone poles, etc. The extent and size of these nests can be seen in this photograph, which only shows part of the colony using this cell tower. These feral Monk Parakeets were photographed in a cell tower in Austin, TX. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF-S VR f2.8 lens + Nikkor TC20E II 2.0x Teleconverter (EFL=900mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: April 22, 2006)

[Length 11.5 in. Wingspan 19 in.]

This Monk Parakeet was photographed at Andrews, TX. Photo taken with a Nikkor 300mm EDAF-S VR f2.8 lens (EFL=450mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: October 11, 2007)

[Length 11.5 in. Wingspan 19 in.]

This Monk Parakeet was photographed at Andrews, TX. Photo taken with a Nikkor 70-200mm EDAF-S VR f2.8 lens + Nikkor TC14E II 1.4x Teleconverter (EFL=420mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: November 20, 2007)

[Length 6.5 in. Wingspan ?? in.]

This Orange-chinned Parakeet was photographed at Ammo Dump Ponds, Gamboa, Panama. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=450mm) on a Nikon D7000 camera. (Date: August 4, 2011)

[Length 6.5 in. Wingspan ?? in.]

This Orange-chinned Parakeet was photographed at Ammo Dump Ponds, Gamboa, Panama. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=450mm) on a Nikon D7000 camera. (Date: August 4, 2011)

[Length 14 in. Wingspan xx in.]

This Scarlet-fronted Parakeet was photographed at the ProAves El Dorado Reserve, Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, Department Magdalena, Colombia. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=450mm) on a Nikon D200 camera. (Date: June 10, 2009)

[Length 9.5 in. Wingspan ?? in.]

This Blue-headed Parrot was photographed at Achiote Road, Colon, Panama. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=450mm) on a Nikon D7000 camera. (Date: August 5, 2011)

[Length 12 in. Wingspan 25 in.]

This Red-crowned Parrot was photographed at Harlingen, Texas. Photo taken with a AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens (EFL=450mm) on a Nikon D7000 camera. (Date: November 11, 2011)