Quaker Parrot
The only parrot that builds a nest out of sticks, and it builds it as an apartment block shared with other pairs. Good talkers and very hard to keep quiet.
Photo by tartaruga33, CC BY 2.0
Overview
The quaker, or monk parakeet, is 11 to 13 inches long, averages about 82 g, and lives around 22 years in captivity. It is the only parrot in the world that builds its own nest: a woven structure of sticks and twigs, often communal, with each pair holding a residence of at least two chambers inside it.
It is also legally restricted. Quakers are illegal to keep in California under any circumstances, and several other states restrict or ban them, because escaped birds have established breeding colonies in Chicago, Miami and at least eight states.
Temperament
Confident, funny and extremely talkative. Quakers start talking young, build large vocabularies and use phrases in something close to the right context, which is remarkable for a bird this size.
They are territorial about their cage in a way that follows directly from being a nest builder: a quaker defends its structure. They are also prone to becoming a one person bird. Both are manageable with early handling by several people and with cleaning routines that do not read as an invasion.
Care and grooming
A pellet base with vegetables and limited fruit. Wild quakers eat seeds, fruits, blossoms, insects, leaf buds, thistles and grasses, and in farmed country they take maize, sorghum and citrus, so a broad diet is closer to natural than a narrow one.
They are prone to fatty liver disease on a rich seed diet, which makes them one of the species where the pellet base genuinely changes the outcome rather than merely improving it.
Living and exercise
24 by 24 by 30 inches minimum, and a steady supply of sticks and weaving material, because a quaker with nothing to build with is a quaker missing its defining behaviour.
Before buying one, check state and local law rather than assuming. California is an outright ban, and elsewhere the rules range from prohibition to permits to wing clipping requirements. A bird bought legally in one state can become a problem by moving house.
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