The monk parakeet was described by French polymath Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, in 1780 in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux.

[2] The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by François-Nicolas Martinet in the Planches Enluminées D'Histoire Naturelle, which was produced under the supervision of Edme-Louis Daubenton to accompany Buffon's text.

[3] Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name, but in 1783, Dutch naturalist Pieter Boddaert coined the binomial name Psittacus monachus in his catalogue of the Planches Enluminées.

Due to morphological and behavioural differences, and geographical dissimilarities, the International Ornithological Committee elevated the cliff parakeet to species status in 2015.

Monk parakeets display very subtle sexual dimorphism in the colouration of their crown and wing coverts, but this is not noticeable to the human eye.

[20] These tenants include many other birds, such as pigeons, sparrows, American kestrels, and yellow-billed teal, but mammals like red squirrels may also occupy a nest.

[18][22] Unusually for a parrot, monk parakeet pairs occasionally have helper individuals, often grown offspring, which assist with feeding the young (see kin selection).

[citation needed] Being as social and intelligent as they are, monk parakeets develop some cultural traditions, namely vocal dialects that differ between groups.

[33] Their population explosion in South American rural areas seems to be associated with the expansion of eucalyptus forestry for paper pulp production, which offers the bird the opportunity to build protected nests in artificial forests where ecological competition from other species is limited.

[40] Other locations with documented populations include: In Greece, monk parakeets have established breeding colonies in the National Garden, Athens.

In the United Kingdom, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs announced plans in 2011 to control them, countering the threat to infrastructure, crops, and native British wildlife by trapping and rehoming, removing nests, and shooting when necessary.

[44] Monk parakeet populations have previously been reported in Denmark,[41] Germany,[41][45] Austria,[41] and Czechia,[41] but have not survived; the relatively colder weather in these countries likely contributes to these failed invasions.

Since this population occurs far from the bird's original range in Brazil – it was only found in the far south and southwest – it is most probably a consequence of escapees from the pet trade.

[48] In Santa Catarina State, probable escapees have been reported on occasion for quite some time, and a feral population seems to have established itself in Florianópolis early in the first decade of the 21st century when birds were observed feeding right next to the highway in the Rio Vermelho-Vargem Grande area.

[49][50] Sometimes, the head and breast feathers of monk parakeets are dyed yellow to deceive uninformed buyers, mimicking the endangered yellow-headed amazon.

[53][54][55] As one of the few temperate-zone parrots, the monk parakeet is able to survive cold climates (partly because they build communal nests about heat-producing electrical equipment atop utility poles), and colonies exist as far north as New York City, Chicago, and Portland, Oregon.

[59] They have also found a home in Brooklyn, and Queens, New York, notably in Green-Wood Cemetery, with some speculating they were accidentally released at John F. Kennedy Airport in the 1960s.

[61] They thrive in Brooklyn and Queens due to their preference for nesting in utility poles; populations have not expanded to Manhattan because of the borough's underground wiring.

[63] The species thrives despite harsh winters; attempts to remove them have been resisted by Hyde Park residents, including Mayor Harold Washington.

Because of monk parakeets' listing as an agricultural pest and invasive species, the U.S. states of California,[66] Colorado,[67] Georgia,[68] Kansas,[69] Kentucky,[70] Hawaii,[71] Maine,[72] New Jersey,[73] Pennsylvania,[74] Tennessee,[75] Wisconsin,[76] and Wyoming,[77] as well as Western Australia[78] outlaw their sale and ownership.