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Birds

Birds

Common name Monk parakeet
Scientific name Myiopsitta monachus
Type Urban birds
Status Resident

Medium-sized bird (approx 30 cm or 12 in). Plumage of green tones in general, somewhat bluish on the wings. The forehead, throat and breast are grey in adults. Long tail. Strong, short and hooked bill, ocher-colored, typical of parrots and parakeets.

Habitats

Urban environments

Where it lives

Species native to South America that entered the peninsula via trade of exotic birds and that by means of escapes managed to settle successfully. It preferably uses parks and gardens with palm trees and eucalyptuses as its habitat. Present also on golf courses.

How it lives

Naturalized exotic bird and resident all year round in the province. Gregarious. The Monk Parakeet places nests in ornamental trees. Layings of 5 to 8 eggs, probably several per year depending on the availability of food. Frugivorous diet based on a wide variety of fruits and seeds, but it also ingests layings and chicks of small birds.

Where it can be seen in Malaga

In Malaga it is a very frequent and abundant species that is distributed along the coastal strip of the province, preferably occupying urbanized areas and expanding at a vertiginous pace. The first observations in Malaga City date from the decade of the seventies. Nowadays it is present in practically all the parks and gardens of the province and there are very abundant colonies in urbanizations of all the Malaga coast, from the Axarquía to Manilva. In the Great Path it can be watched in stages 1, 2, 3, 4, 30, 31 and 33.

Curious facts

Parrots and parakeets do not build nests, they usually occupy cavities of trees to nest. The Monk Parakeet, however, is an exception. It is the only species that builds nests. Both the size of the colonies and the distance they travel daily to find food are related to the optimization of energy savings. They are always settled in areas where they find an average distance between the colonies and the foraging areas. In this way, the energy expenditure involved in their daily movements to feed does not exceed what they get with their intake, which allows them to be very prolific.

Similar birds
Present
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Wintering Summer Resident Migration
Audios