Vital Stats for the Quaker Parakeet

This is an excerpt from an article by Donald Brightsmith that was orginally published in Bird Talk Magazine.

Quaker Parakeet Vital Statistics

Latin Name: Myopsitta monachus (Myo = fly, psitta = parrot, monachus = monk)

Other Names: Monk Parakeet, Cotorra (Spanish), Caturrita (Portuguese)

Total Length: 11.5 inches

Wingspan: 21 inches

Weight: 90 – 140g

Incubation: 24 days

Clutch size 5 – 7 average 6 *

Fledging: 40+ days in Argentina, 50 in captivity

Stay with adults: 3 – 12 months *

Age at first breeding: 50 – 65% breed in second year *

Percent of wild population that breed: 37 – 60% *

Percent that relay after lost clutch: 20 – 35% *

Proportion that raises two broods: 5% *

Lifespan: 12 – 15 years (in captivity)

Survival: 61% first year, 81% for adults (in the wild) *

Young fledged per nesting pair: 1.5 *

Percent of eggs laid that fledge young: 25% *

* All data are from wild populations in Argentina unless otherwise noted. From Spreyer and Bucher 1998.
*article source: http://vtpb-www2.cvm.tamu.edu/brightsmith/Monk%20Parakeets.html