Parakeets

The Parakeet species contains a large number of small to medium sized birds, typically with long, tapering tail feathers. Virtually all parakeets are seed-eaters and reside in warm climates from India to Australia and the South Pacific and throughout tropical America and Southeast Asia. The only parakeet native to North America, the Carolina Parakeet, was hunted to extinction in 1910, considered to be extinct during the 1920s and declared extinct in 1939.

Parakeets are highly social and typically form huge flocks. Frequently they are identified as pests by grain farmers. Although widely believed to form exclusive pair bonds, increasingly evidence is mounting that they do not mate for life in the wild. Parakeets in the wild tend to be primarily green in color, however many variations and hybrids occur both in the wild and in aviculture.

The parakeet that is most commonly kept as a pet worldwide is the Budgerigar (“budgie”) or Shell Parakeet. Originally from Australia these birds are easily tamed, amusing and generally affectionate companions when kept alone. When fed a purely seed diet budgies usually live from four to ten years both in the wild and in captivity. With a better diet (pellet + fresh fruit and vegetables) they’ve been known to live well into their twenties. Some budgies and other species of parakeets can learn to mimic human speech. Check out Disco the Parakeet on Facebook or You Tube for a special example of a “talking” parakeet

Grass Parakeets (Grasskeet) include a sizable number of Australian parakeets native to grasslands of Australia. Ringneck Parakeets can be either African or Asian. The Asian Alexandrine parakeet is one of the largest parakeets. Monk Parakeets (also known as Quaker Parakeets), Lineolated (short-tailed) Parakeets and Brotogeris Parakeets are native to South America. There are many colonies of feral Quaker Parakeets in communities throughout the USA. They are hearty birds which live in large colonies which helps them survive the cold winters of their new homes in cities in Connecticut and New York as well as in Chicago. Their propensity to create large communal stick nests in telephone and electric poles has made them unwelcome in some areas of the USA.

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