How to Attract Monk (Quaker) Parakeets to Your Backyard Feeders

Quaker or Monk Parakeets originated from S. America. They live in communal nests and recently have been found eating from backyard feeders. Currently, we have 2-3 dozen parakeets visiting our feeders. How did I attract so many parakeets to my backyard? The following steps are from my experiences and research about Monk Parakeets.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Love for Wild Birds

1. Monk (Quaker) parakeets eat legumes, grains, seeds (safflower, sunflower), leaf buds, fruits, berries, nuts, blossoms, and insects.

2. Often Monk parakeets live near the coast. The moderate temperatures of coastal areas may be a factor. We live in South Florida in Broward County, approximately 7 miles from the coast and 1/2 mile from a stream.

3. Monk Parakeets usually leave their nest in small foraging parties of 2-14 soon after sunrise. Monk Parakeets are often seen sitting in the tops of trees eating leaf buds or fruit.

4. What has made the parrots particularly noticeable over the past few years is their increasing presence at bird feeders especially where sunflower and safflower seeds are offered.

5. Based on my observations and research, I noticed that the parakeets would first stay near the top of our Mango tree and other tall trees. Gradually, they would drop down to lower branches. Eventually, they would fly to one of the tube feeders near our tree.

6. I noticed that these parakeets were acrobatics and had no trouble hanging on small perches or feeding almost upside down. Feeders with a platform or round base also invited pigeons and doves. I removed the platform feeders. I purchased plastic tube feeders AND shortened the perches to approximately 1" by carefully cutting them.

7. I purchased several plastic tube feeders (7), shortened the perches, and placed the feeders closer to the Mango tree. In the feeders, we added Safflower Seeds, Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, and a mix of Nuts & Fruit pieces.

8. I also added a few small hanging containers of water for drinking and bathing + two small fountains. Within a few weeks, more parakeets began to visit our backyard feeders. Soon I will take pictures to add to my tutorials and share with other bird lovers.

9. Summary: Monk Parakeets are partial to Safflower and Black Oil Sunflower Seeds. They need to be near a tall tree for safety. Place plastic tube feeders near a tall tree. Remember to cut the plastic perches to about 1". This will allow the acrobatic parakeets to eat and reduce the number of pigeons. Provide water for drinking and bathing.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to plant flowers and trees to encourage natural feeding by wild birds. Stay tuned for more articles by the Wildbirdman. If you enjoy these tips please add me as your friend. This will encourage me to share more tips for backyard wild bird fans.
• BE PATIENT! For weeks, we did not see more than 2-4 Monk Parakeets at our feeders. With the suggestions in this article we now have 2 to 3 dozen parakeets all day long! We feed them 2x per day their favorite seeds (Black oil sunflower and Safflower).

Resources

• Monk (Quaker) Parakeets
• All About Wild Birds by the Wildbirdman

[thetruthseeker]

on 7/9/2009 Thanks for the tip about shortening the perches on plastic tube feeders. Hopefully, I'll have fewer pigeons eating my gourmet seeds from my feeders.