Care Guide

Quaker Parrot

Myiopsitta monachus

A confident little extrovert with the talking skill of a small Amazon and the cleverness of a builder-engineer.

Available at Parrot Bliss
Lifespan 20–30 yr
Adult size 11–12 in
Noise
Talking
Beginner-friendly
Care difficulty
Min. cage: 24×24×30 in Out-of-cage: 3–5 hr/day Sleep: 10–12 hr Bathing: 1–2× weekly Vet check: Annually
  • 70% Pellets
  • 22% Fresh vegetables
  • 5% Fruit
  • 3% Seeds & treats
Check your state and city laws before bringing home a Quaker. Ownership is prohibited outright in eleven states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Wyoming — and needs a permit in four more: Idaho, Kansas, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. Ohio and Virginia allow them on conditions. I will not ship a Quaker into any jurisdiction where ownership isn’t lawful — please verify with your state wildlife agency before reaching out. Our state-by-state guide to Quaker parrot laws has the current rule for every state, read from the regulations themselves.

Personality & Temperament

Quaker Parrots — formally Monk Parakeets — are one of the great surprises of pet aviculture. From the outside they look like an unremarkable green parakeet. Live with one, and you discover a bird with the talking ability of a small Amazon, the cleverness of a Quaker (the religious order), and the social confidence of a much larger species.

Quakers are builders, talkers, and confident little extroverts. In the wild they construct massive communal stick nests; in your living room they will redirect that drive into shredding, weaving, and rearranging anything you’ll let them. The talking is real — many Quakers learn dozens of words and use them in surprisingly appropriate contexts.

They can be nippy and territorial about their cage and toys, especially if their nest-building drive is unmanaged. A confident, well-trained Quaker is one of the most charming small parrots you’ll ever meet; an under-stimulated one becomes a sharp-edged little tyrant.

Talker
Confident
Builder
Cage-territorial
Long-lived
Apartment-capable

Housing

Quakers want to build. Their housing setup needs to honor that impulse, or it gets redirected into your curtains.

Minimum cage: 24″ × 24″ × 30″ with 1/2″ to 5/8″ bar spacing. Bigger is always better. Provide nest-substitute building material: palm leaf strips, untreated wicker, paper rope, large knot toys. Let them build, weave, and shred to their heart’s content — outside of any enclosed cozy hiding spot that would trigger nesting hormones.

  • Multiple natural-wood perches at varied diameters.
  • No enclosed “happy huts” or fabric tents — they trigger hormonal nesting in this species more than any other.
  • Heavy-duty toys; Quakers chew with intent.
  • Cage location: high-traffic family area, away from kitchen fumes and direct drafts.

Diet

Quakers have a higher-than-average tendency toward obesity, fatty liver, and atherosclerosis. Fat control matters more in this species than in most others. Pellets are the foundation; produce is the daily medicine; seeds and nuts are training tools, not staples.

Quaker-safe favorites

  • Leafy greens — kale, dandelion, collards
  • Bell peppers, broccoli, carrot, sweet potato
  • Cooked legumes (chickpeas, lentils, black beans)
  • Sprouted seeds and grains
  • Berries, mango, papaya in small amounts
  • Whole-grain pasta and brown rice

Never feed

  • Avocado (toxic)
  • Chocolate, caffeine, alcohol
  • Onion, garlic, raw mushroom
  • High-fat seed mixes as the main diet
  • Salty or processed snacks
  • Apple seeds, fruit pits
Quakers love sunflower seeds and peanuts to a degree that will hurt them. Use these only as training rewards in tiny amounts — never as a free-feed snack.

Health & Wellness

  • Obesity, fatty liver, atherosclerosis — the trifecta of seed-fed Quakers. Prevented almost entirely by pellet conversion and daily exercise.
  • Feather-destructive behavior — usually triggered by under-stimulation, hormonal frustration, or a cage too small for their builder energy.
  • Quaker mutilation syndrome — a rare but serious self-mutilation condition; any sudden onset is an emergency vet visit.
  • Polyomavirus and PBFD — quarantine new birds; vaccinate young Quakers when possible.

Weigh your bird weekly. Annual avian vet exams are the standard; semi-annual visits for seniors and any chronically laying hen.

Enrichment, Behavior & Training

The most important thing I can tell a new Quaker owner is this: train every day, from day one. Quakers are smart enough to write their own rules if you don’t write them first. Step-up, recall, “no bite,” and target training are all learned in days, not weeks, and they protect against the cage-territorial nipping that gives this species its tough reputation.

  • Daily out-of-cage time — minimum 3 hours, ideally with active human engagement for at least one of those hours.
  • Foraging and shredding are not optional. Provide them every day.
  • Out-of-cage training on a neutral perch (a play stand, not the cage top) reduces territorial behavior.
  • Talking practice — Quakers learn what you repeat with energy. Talk to them clearly during routine moments and watch the vocabulary grow.

Sleep & Lighting

10–12 hours of dark, quiet sleep is the foundation. Quakers are particularly sensitive to long days plus cozy hiding spots — combine those two and you’ll get hormonal aggression, chronic egg laying, or screaming within weeks.

The fix is environmental:

  • True dark, true quiet. Cover the cage if your household stays up late.
  • No “happy hut” sleeping tents (they read as nesting cavities).
  • Long days corrected to a strict 12-hour rhythm.

Breeding & Reproductive Health

  • Sexual maturity around 2 years.
  • Typical clutch 5–8 eggs; incubation about 24 days; fledging 6–8 weeks.
  • The species’ nest-building drive intensifies hormonal behavior in pet homes — manage triggers proactively (no enclosed hides, no cardboard boxes inside the cage, careful with “back petting”).

Chronic egg laying is treatable but exhausting; involve an avian vet at the first sign.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are Quakers illegal in some states?

Their wild-establishment ability. Quakers can survive cold winters and form feral colonies that build large communal stick nests on power lines and other infrastructure, which is why several states banned ownership decades ago. The bans persist even though enforcement is now uneven.

Can Quakers really talk?

Yes — better than most birds their size. Many learn 30 to 50 words and a handful of phrases. They tend to mimic family voices accurately and use words in context surprisingly often.

Are they noisy?

They have a loud morning and sunset call but are not as piercing as Sun Conures or large macaws. Most apartment-dwellers manage Quakers fine — they’re more of a “chatty roommate” than a “screaming neighbor” species.

What are the color mutations?

Blue, cinnamon, lutino (yellow), albino, and pied are the most common. Care needs are identical across mutations.

Why does my Quaker bite when I reach into the cage?

Cage territoriality. Train them to step up to a neutral perch outside the cage and do all interaction there. The biting almost always softens within weeks once the cage stops being “their fortress.”

Call an avian vet immediately if you see:

  • Breathing difficulty, tail-bobbing, or open-mouth breathing
  • Blood, or major changes to droppings
  • Vomiting or active regurgitation
  • Sudden weight loss, fluffed posture, or sitting on the cage floor
  • Loss of balance, seizures, or other neurologic signs
  • Refusing food or water for more than a few hours
  • Visible injury, swelling, or bleeding

While you wait for help: keep your bird warm and quiet (about 80–85°F / 27–29°C), offer water and a favorite food only if swallowing is normal, and never give unprescribed medication.

Looking for a hand-raised Quaker Parrot?

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