Note: This information was posted in December 1996, so may not be entirely accurate. Any updates from Austin residents would be welcome.

• Krieg Fields- (South Pleasant Valley Rd. by Longhorn Dam)- Largest colony- 14 nests!
  
  
• YMCA- Town Lake (Corner of West Cesar Chavez and North Lamar)- 9 nests.
  
  
• Butler Fields- (Toomey Rd. off of South Lamar)- 8 nests.
  
  
• Martin Junior High School- (Haskell Ave.)- 3 nests.
  
  
• Taco Bell- East Oltorf Rd. (In telephone pole in front of restaurant)- 1 nest. (note: this colony moved from the H.E.B. on Oltorf after their nest there was torn down due to constuction.)

Dallas

Fort Worth

Grand Prairie

Houston

Waxahachie

An excerpt from Erik Huebner's web site about the Austin Monks:

Monk Parakeets have been sighted or are established in several Texas cities including Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and Waxahachie (Rappole and Blacklock, 1994). They are now included on the Official Texas State List. In the Austin area they have been established since the 1970’s. A large number of the Austin population may have come from a release of 19 birds in 1991 by Austinite Janet Giles in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood (Gandara, 1995). These releases of “unwanted pets” and escapes by wild breeders (birds that were captured in the wild for breeding purposes) are the main source of feral populations.

Exact numbers of Monk's in the wild are unknown since little research has been conducted. John Herron from the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department reports that only 2 percent of the agency’s budget go to urban and non-game programs (Personal Communication). Monk Parakeets are included in the Audubon Society’s Annual Christmas bird counts. The numbers vary since some ignore exotics and survey routes may not include urban habitats. The 1995 Christmas count put the population at 87 birds. In previous years the number has been as low as 24 in 1992.

The first reported colony of Monk Parakeets in Austin was at the Paggi House restaurant at Barton Springs Road and South Lamar Boulevard (Gandara, 1995). From there the birds have dispersed and now inhabit the tall light poles in the parks around Town Lake. They construct their large stick nests atop the tallest light poles in softball fields. The Monks seem to prefer the tallest poles, about 60 feet, although some nests are found on lower telephone poles (personal observation). One nest can be seen in a tall tree on the west side of Barton Creek at Lou Neff Point. The nests are constructed mainly of Willow (Salix spp.) branches, but may include rope, carpet, newspaper, and cloth (personal observation). Nests are shared, and the aggressive parakeet has even been seen stealing nest material from other nests in the colony. Their diet consists chiefly of berries, tree buds and seeds, in particular Chinaberry (Melia azedarach L.) and American Elm (Ulmus americanus) (personal observation).

The impact of Monk Parakeets in the Austin area is yet to be understood. With an increase in reported parrot sightings in Texas, including Red-crowned Parrots and Green Parakeets, which are Mexican species as well as South Texas residents (Click here for Harlingen, Texas Birding Site), we may have a second invasion of Psittaciforms by way of expanding range. It is logical to assume that the space they are taking is at the expense of native species, but is their presence causing a decline in populations of other birds? Further research will have to be done. They have no known predators and they are well established and flourishing. There has been no history of eradication in Austin and it is doubtful that there will be. The Monk Parakeet is probably here to stay.