My name is Bobby and I have some ?'s about wild quakers

Hi Bobby.  Lucky you!  I think it is safe to say that most of us on this site are much more familiar with the companion version of the Quaker, but of course they do retain many of the characteristics and behaviors of their wild cousins.  They are one of not many parrots that build nests, which can be very elaborate affairs.  They are very, very social and sometimes build colonial nests.  That pretty much exhausts my knowledge of the wild version.    This link describes the internal nest structure:

www.birdchannel.com/bird-magazines/bird-talk/08-january/wild-quaker-parrot-nests.aspx

Thanks for sharing the pictures.  Where are you located?

Greetings! That's so cool. I would love to live near wild Quakers. They are fascinating birds, and a very unique parrot. They are among the only parrots that build nests. Most parrots live in hollowed out trees or similar places. Even more interesting is the nature of Quaker parrot community. Their nests are multi-family, almost like a condominium building. Each family has a multi-room residence, and each room has a different level of exclusivity in terms of who can enter it. Quaker families will even bring in young birds from other families to help with taking care of babies, like a nanny.

In captivity, Quaker parrots present a very interesting and stimulating (and often quite challenging) member of the household. They are highly emotional parrots, arguably some of the most emotional. Also highly intelligent for their size, often touted as having the intelligence of a large parrot packed into a small parrot's body. They are very capable talkers, generally speaking, as well.

You can find out a lot about wild Quaker Parrots (aka Monk Parakeets) at brooklynparrots.com/ ... And of course everyone here will be happy to answer any specific questions you might have. I'm sure everyone will be jealous of your proximity to these wild Quakers.

What is the Quaker's favorite food? (not pellets!)

I'm not too sure about their wild diet, although there is a good page that includes information about it here: www.holisticbirds.com/pages/quaker0502.htm

I feed our QP little bits of almond or walnut as a treat... also a product called "flax snax" that she loves... She would love to eat seeds if I would let her but they make her crazy. Grapes are always a hit. She also loves millet sprays.

She would love to eat cheese and potato chips and french fries all day, of course, but she doesn't get those things unless she manages to pull off a sneak attack on our plates.

Welcome, bobbyb and Mr. Haney (who is a handsome Amazon). Parrots aren't among the wild birds that I see around upstate New York, so I can only imagine how great it would be to see some naturalized Quakers.

Thanks again, everyone! I guess they are noisy, and definitely don't sound like other birds, but we are in a large city and they are not the loudest things around. Compared to planes, trains, and automobiles they are pleasant to hear chirping away. I guess a couple years ago someone from Texas A&M spent a month or so listening and recording them with a parabolic dish, studying their language. She said they were definitely talking to each other. And I have seen that communication. There are other birds in the area, but the Quakers are definitely the dominant species in the avian neighborhood. They work together and take positions to flank and control any other birds that get out of line, but don't bother the ones that stay in line.

The one exception is a hawk that comes by sometimes, and when that happens they all start squawking and fly off in pairs in different directions.

We fed Mr Haney seeds (along with fruit and vegetables, etc and other stuff she isn't really supposed to have) for years. We tried pellets several times and she just didn't eat. Now she only will eat one kind and only one color.

Someone told me at the beginning that sunflower seeds have caffeine in them, and that is what makes birds "crazy". So we only fed Mr Haney a safflower seed based seed mix with no sunflower seeds. She has always been a laid back bird, whether on seed or pellet, but has never had sunflower seeds. Never picked at her feathers, or squawked at night after we go to bed, or any of the things some other parrot owners complain about.

And just to clear up the name/gender thing... we were told Mr Haney was male when we bought her. The only way to sex her is surgery or blood test and she never needed either. A few years she had a fatty place on her abdomen, and the vet asked if we were 100% sure Mr Haney is male. We weren't, so they did a blood test and turns out Mr Haney was female all along. We didn't want to change her name after 20 years, so we have a gender-inappropriate name for her. It's been the source of lots of laughs and confused looks since then. And it's a good thing, because that place on a female is pretty normal, but on a male would have meant a serious health issue.

Interesting! I had never heard that sunflower seeds have caffeine in them. I kind of feel like safflower seeds make her a bit crazy too, but sunflower seeds are substantially worse.

These QPs are definitely loud... I would love to hear how their noise sounds in an urban environment. One of these days I am going to make it up to NY for the brooklynparrots.com parrot safari to check them out. Cool to hear about their cooperative measures and communication. They are pretty fascinating.