Do Wild Parakeets and Parrots Live in North America?

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Types of Wild Parakeets and Parrots in the U.S.

Red Crowned Amazon wild parakeet and parrot — Look for red-crowned Amazon parrots in the wild.

Monk parakeets, red-crowned Amazon parrots and Nanday parakeets are the three most common wild parakeets and parrots in the U.S. None of these is a native North American bird species. Over the years, however, their populations adapted to survive in many cities. Pigeons did a similar thing by learning how to survive in urban environments.

In most cases, these wild parakeet and parrot populations likely started as a result of escaped birds meant for the pet trade.

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Where Do Wild Parakeets and Parrots Live?

Monk Parakeet — Monk parakeets are sometimes spotted in urban areas.

Most of the 25 types of wild parrots that have bred in the United States live in California, Florida and Texas. Red-crowned Amazons only have a population in southern Texas.

wild parrots, nanday parakeet — Nanday parakeet perched on a sunflower

Wild Nanday parakeets live generally in the Southwest and Florida. You can find parrots farther north, too. Keep an eye out for wild monk parakeets in many major U.S. cities such as Chicago, New York, and Portland, Oregon.

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Wild Parrot Sightings by the Numbers

The monk parakeet is the most common wild parrot that makes its home in the northern U.S. Through the National Audubon Society’s Christmas Bird Count and Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird, 42,981 sightings were logged between 2002 and 2016.

Birders with eBird and Christmas Bird Count have spotted wild parakeets and parrots in 43 states in recent years, usually in parklands or suburban habitats. These birds mostly live in populated areas.

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Are There Any Native Wild Parrots in North America?

Close-up portrait of a thick billed parrot — Thick-billed parrots live in Mexico

Sadly, you won’t find North America’s only two native parrots in the U.S today. The Carolina parakeet went extinct in the 1920s. The thick-billed parrot no longer visits the Southwest, but still resides in Mexico. In recent years, 56 nonnative parrot species were reported in the wild in the States.

Sources

Author

Jill Staake

During the 14 years she's written for Birds & Blooms, Jill Staake has relied on the expertise gained during her time as Assistant Curator of outdoor exhibits at the Museum of Science & Industry, Tampa. There, she helped grow gardens full of host and nectar plants for more than 20 species of native butterflies, raised from caterpillars to sh...

Reviewer

Kenn and Kimberly Kaufman

As a teenager in the 1970s, Kenn Kaufman hitch-hiked all over North America in pursuit of birds, an adventure later chronicled in his cult-classic book Kingbird Highway. After several years as a professional nature tour leader, taking groups to all seven continents, he transitioned to a career as a writer, editor, and illustrator. His 14 books incl...

Fact Checker

Rachel Maidl

Rachel Maidl is a former senior editor for Birds & Blooms magazine. She enjoys bird-watching in her urban backyard and local state parks, gardening for pollinators and researching new plants. Her favorite backyard visitors are the bumblebees that visit her sedums.