NANDAY PARAKEET

 1390                  NANDAY PARAKEET                 Aratinga nenday

USA                48

The nanday parakeet, also known as the black-hooded parakeet or nanday conure, is a medium-small, mostly green, Neotropical parrot native to continental South America.  The species is native to South America from southeast Bolivia to southwest Brazil, central Paraguay, and northern Argentina, from the region known as the Pantanal. Caged birds have been released in some areas, and the birds have established self-sustaining populations in Tenerife, Los Angeles, California, San Antonio, Texas, and several areas of Florida (including Pasco, Sarasota, Pinellas, Manatee, Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade Counties) in the United States.

The bird feeds on seeds, fruit, palm nuts, berries, flowers, and buds. Feral birds also come to bird feeders. Wild birds primarily use scrub forest and forest clearings around settlements.