Where is the Quaker parakeet legal?

Family Psittacidae-Parrots, Parakeets: Myiopsitta monachus (Monk or Quaker parakeet) (D)

How this rule works: § 671(b) defines (D) detrimental and (W) welfare. § 671.1(a) lists permit types; none covers pet keeping. The only possession permit, Animal Care, requires lawful possession in California before January 1992.

Monk parakeet.

Two Colorado rules point in opposite directions here and the prohibited list wins. Chapter W-11 § 1103(B) clears "All Psitticine birds" on the unregulated wildlife list, but § 1103(B) is expressly subject to § 008 regarding prohibited terrestrial wildlife, and § 008(B)(11) names the monk parakeet. CPW resolves it the same way in public, restating the unregulated line as "All Psitticine birds (except Monk Parakeet/Quaker Parrot)" and saying the species is not allowed in Colorado. The grandfather clause in § 008(B) reaches only subsections 1 through 8, so it does not help an existing owner of a bird listed at 11. Reading the parrot line on its own is how this species gets recorded legal in Colorado, and it is not.

How this rule works: The Commission's prohibited species list. Nineteen entries, and the grandfather clause in the opening paragraph reaches only subsections 1 through 8, so the later additions, monk parakeet and prairie dogs among them, have no route for existing owners.

Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus)

Connecticut names the monk parakeet by species in Category Two, and it is the only psittacine anywhere in the regulation. Every other parrot falls outside all four categories and is unrestricted, so this is a single-species rule sitting in the middle of an otherwise untouched order. Subsection (b)(3) allows possession of a Category Two animal only by a vet treating it, a municipal park, zoo, marine mammal park, aquarium, nature centre, museum, exhibitor, laboratory or research facility. There is no private permit.

How this rule works: Connecticut's official eRegulations text, served as a PDF. This is the operative rule for every animal on this map, and it sorts wild animals into four categories. Category One (four mammal families) and Category Two (a long specific list) may be possessed only by institutions; Category Three, which is Connecticut's own native species, bars import and export but not possession; Category Four, the state endangered, threatened and special concern species, needs a permit. An animal in none of the four is not restricted by this section. The definitions in subsection (a) do more work than the lists: 'wild animal' reaches invertebrates, and 'domestic animal' is defined in a way that takes the pet rabbit and the ferret out of the scheme entirely.

The following wild animals are considered a significant threat to wildlife or other natural resources and live individuals are prohibited. ... (b) Birds: ... 2. Order Psittaciformes: Family Psittacidae - Myiopsitta monachus (monk parakeet or Quaker parrot) except those individuals possessing monk parakeets or Quaker parrots under a wild animal license that is current on the effective date of this rule may continue to possess these animals according to their license conditions;

This entry previously read as unrestricted and it is the opposite: the monk parakeet is one of only nine entries on Georgia's prohibited list, the tier above the licence tiers, where live individuals may not be held at all. The grandfathering is narrower than most on this map, since it runs only to someone who held a current wild animal licence on the effective date, not to any prior owner. Georgia's Department of Agriculture reaches the same bird from the other direction, having determined it prohibited from entry into the state as a species capable of breeding in the wild and threatening agriculture.

Existing owners: Only a person possessing monk parakeets under a wild animal licence current on the effective date may continue, on that licence's conditions.

How this rule works: Georgia sorts wild animals into three tiers and none of them is a pet tier. Rule .03 prohibits outright, and its only pet-relevant entry is the monk parakeet. Rule .04 is inherently dangerous animals needing a licence AND liability insurance: all Felidae, four canid genera, bears, hyenas, kangaroos, great apes, crocodilians, the venomous snake families and a short list of fish and scorpions. Rule .05 requires a licence, and it works by taxonomic order rather than by species, which is why it is so wide: all Carnivora, all hedgehogs, all lagomorphs, all marsupials, all primates, and all rodents except six named genera. The thing to read before any of it is O.C.G.A. § 27-5-4(b)(1), because it says who a licence is issued to: the wild animal trade and public exhibitors, plus no-cost permits for science, education, a capuchin monkey for a person with a permanent disability, and grass carp for a pond owner. No pet. So an animal on .04 or .05 is not a permit animal for a keeper, it is a no, and the rule proves it by writing express "may be held as a pet without a license" exceptions for exactly two animals, the European ferret and the sugar glider.

Myiopsitta monachus parakeet, monk (quaker)

How this rule works: Also carries the default rule: introduction is 'prohibited except for those animals on the lists' incorporated in § 4-71-6.5.

The importation, possession, or release in Kansas of the following live wildlife species shall be prohibited, except as authorized by terms of a wildlife importation permit issued by the secretary: ... (13) monk parakeet (Myiopsita monachus)

Named by binomial on the prohibited list, and the company it keeps says what the prohibition is for: walking catfish, four carps, a snakehead, a round goby, zebra and quagga mussels, a mudsnail and three crayfish. This is an escape-and-establishment rule, not a dangerous-animal rule, which is the same reason a dozen other states bar this bird. The dangerous regulated animal statute at K.S.A. 32-1301 names no bird and has nothing to do with it. The permit that subsection (a) refers to is issued under (c) "for experimental, scientific, display, or other purposes", so there is no personal-pet route.

Existing owners: 115-18-10(b)(1) lets a bird possessed before 1 February 1978 be retained in closed confinement on an application to the secretary detailing how it came into the applicant’s possession.

How this rule works: Kansas's prohibited species list, and it is almost entirely aquatic invasives: carps, a snakehead, a goby, mussels, a mudsnail, crayfish. Two land animals are on it, the Asian raccoon dog and the monk parakeet, which is the quaker parakeet of the pet trade. The permit in subsection (c) is for experimental, scientific, display or other purposes and is not a pet route.

Monk or Quaker parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus);

The permit-exempt list confirms the exclusion: it clears parrots, lovebirds, budgerigars, macaws and parakeets except the monk parakeet.

How this rule works: Three lists. Section 4(1) is prohibited species, injurious to native ecosystems. Section 4(2) is inherently dangerous exotic wildlife. Section 7 is the permit-exempt list. Anything on none of the three may be possessed, but a transportation permit is needed to bring it into the state. KRS 65.877, cited in the regulation itself, lets local governments prohibit inherently dangerous wildlife outright.

Cage and Aviary Birds - Means those captive-reared birds, not native to Nebraska, such as parrots, exotic finches, and canaries, which are adapted to live and breed in a cage. For purposes of this regulation, the monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) is not a cage and aviary bird.

Nebraska bans this bird by writing it out of a definition, which is the only instance of that technique on this map. The importation list ends with "All Cage and Aviary Birds", and the chapter defines that term as captive-reared birds not native to Nebraska, such as parrots, exotic finches and canaries, and then adds one sentence: "For purposes of this regulation, the monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) is not a cage and aviary bird." So every other pet parrot is importable and this one is not. The reason is agricultural rather than about the pet trade, since the monk parakeet is the species that builds communal stick nests on power infrastructure, and Nebraska also keeps a separate Nuisance Birds chapter at 166 NAC 7.

How this rule works: Nebraska renumbered its Game and Parks regulations: what used to be 163 NAC ch. 4 is now Title 166, and captive wildlife has its own chapter 8 rather than a subsection. Anything on this map citing "163 NAC ch. 4, § 008" is pointing at a title that is now called ADMINISTRATION. Chapter 8 has three operative parts. § 001.01B bars retaining any WILD BIRD or WILD MAMMAL in captivity except a listed set of Nebraska natives under a Captive Wildlife Permit. § 001.07A prohibits six species outright, none of them a pet: the Asian raccoon dog, white-tailed and mule deer, red deer, wild pigs and bighorn or thinhorn sheep. And § 001.08A is a closed importation list, which is what actually answers most exotic mammals here, because they are not wild mammals and so the permit scheme never reaches them. Chapter 10 does the same job for reptiles and amphibians and is limited to species native to Nebraska.

Psittaciformes Psittaculis spp.--Ring-necked parakeets / Myiopsitta spp.--Monk parakeets / Cyanoliseus patagonus--Patagonian Conures ... The potentially dangerous species shall not be kept as a pet, for hobby purposes or in situations, which, in the judgment of the Department, could adversely affect the health of the animal or which could constitute a hazard to the public.

The quaker is Myiopsitta monachus and 4.8(a) puts Myiopsitta spp. in the potentially dangerous table, alongside the ring-necked parakeets and the Patagonian conure, on the agricultural pest limb of the definition rather than the dangerous animal limb. A permit exists for potentially dangerous species under 4.8(b), which is why this entry read "permit" before, but 4.9(a)3 says in terms that such a species "shall not be kept as a pet, for hobby purposes". The permit is real and it is simply not a pet permit, so for a keeper the practical answer is a ban. The Division states it flatly in its own notice: potentially dangerous species "may not be kept as pets or for hobby purposes for any reason".

How this rule works: NJDEP's own courtesy copy of the whole of N.J.A.C. 7:25. Subchapter 4 starts at 7:25-4.1 and carries the definitions, the permit requirement at 4.2, the three species lists at 4.3, 4.4 and 4.8, the pet bar at 4.9(a)3 and 4.15(b), and the state endangered list at 4.13. The three list PDFs the Division hands out are extracts of this.

The Monk Parakeet, Myiopsitts monachus , sometimes referred to as the Quaker Parakeet or Gray-headed Parakeet.

Named outright, which makes this one of the few Pennsylvania exotic pet answers that needs no interpretation at all: import, possession, sale, offering for sale and release are each unlawful. The scientific name is misspelled in the official text, which prints Myiopsitts for Myiopsitta. This is the only parrot Pennsylvania designates, and the designation is what brings the species inside the Game Code, since 34 Pa.C.S. § 102 otherwise limits wild birds to federally listed migratory birds and game birds.

How this rule works: The Game Commission's actual prohibited list, and the document most Pennsylvania exotic pet questions turn on rather than the § 2961 definition. Eleven categories, of which three matter most here: all Felidae except house cats, the monk parakeet by name, and a catch-all barring possession of any wildlife held in captivity or captive bred in another state or nation.

Birds Psittaciformes Psittacidae Melopsittacus undulatus Budgerigar Captive Bred Only ... Nymphicus hollandicus Cockatiel Captive Bred Only ... Psittacula krameri manillensis Indian ringneck parakeet Captive Bred Only

Vermont is an inverted-list state and the quaker parakeet falls through all three of its lists. 10 V.S.A. § 4709 bars bringing in, transporting or possessing any live wild bird or animal without authorisation, and the Unrestricted Wild Animal List closes the loop by saying a species found on none of the Restricted, Unrestricted or Domestic lists is considered Restricted. the quaker parakeet is on none of them: the Unrestricted list's birds are the rock dove, the European buzzard, a run of estrildid finches and the canary, with no psittacine at all, and the Domestic Species List's psittacine section is a closed list of about thirty species that names the budgerigar, the cockatiel, the lovebirds, the rosellas, the conures and Psittacula, and stops. What makes Restricted a ban rather than paperwork is Regulation 881: "the Commissioner shall not issue a permit for the keeping or possession of any wild animal in captivity, except for bona fide scientific or educational purposes". There is no pet category to apply under. Worth noting how differently Vermont arrives here from the states that ban this bird. California, Connecticut, Georgia and Kentucky name Myiopsitta because it is an agricultural pest that builds nests on power infrastructure. Vermont names nothing: the quaker is banned for the same reason a Nile monitor is, which is that nobody put it on a list.

How this rule works: The third of Vermont's three lists and the one earlier sittings could not read; it extracts cleanly with pypdf from this URL, fetched with a browser User-Agent. It is what makes the domestic cat, the dog, the ferret and the domestic rabbit lawful in a state where anything unlisted is Restricted. Its bird section is a closed list of about thirty psittacines, every one marked Captive Bred Only, and it decides the parrot cells: budgerigar, cockatiel, lovebirds, rosellas and Psittacula are on it, and Cacatua, Psittacus and Myiopsitta are not.

Monk or Quaker parakeet or parrot (Myiopsitta monachus) - Prohibited

The one psittacine Wisconsin prohibits. NR 40 Prohibited status bars possession, transport and transfer without a permit, so this is the rare case where the parrot order's general clearance as an unregulated pet bird does not apply.

How this rule works: DNR's regulated invasive species list. Among animals kept as pets the only terrestrial vertebrate named is the monk or Quaker parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), Prohibited. The other terrestrial vertebrates are nutria and wild/feral swine. No pet reptile, amphibian or small mammal appears.

a permit shall not be issued for importation or possession of the following live warm-blooded wildlife in Wyoming... (iii) Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus);

Not merely unpermitted. The regulation says a permit shall not be issued, which closes the route entirely.

How this rule works: Two closed lists do the work. Domestic animals and domesticated animals are both defined by enumeration, with the phrase for the purpose of this regulation, only the following animals are considered domestic. Anything on neither list is wildlife, and Section 13(d) leaves it to a permit that may be authorised upon approval.

The following species are exempt from Codes 09.02 (Possession Of Non-Native Wildlife In Captivity Restricted), 09.07 (Wildlife Breeder/Dealer Permit Required), and 09.10 (Wildlife Importation Permit Required)

The bird list runs to dozens of parrots by name and the monk parakeet is not among them, so it stays inside Code 09.02 rather than being exempted. This is the usual pattern: the monk parakeet is the one parrot states single out, because established colonies damage electrical infrastructure.

How this rule works: Species exempt from Codes 09.02 (possession of non-native wildlife restricted), 09.07 (breeder/dealer permit) and 09.10 (importation permit), named individually with binomials. Read it out of the codebook rather than the compiled PDF AGFC posted at agfc.com in 2022, which is the version that circulates as "the Arkansas list" and is two revisions behind: it lacks the rosy boa and the whole Anoline Lizards entry with its Arkansas-native exception. The compiled PDF says so itself, that the codebook lists "take precedence".

Expressly carved out of the unrestricted list: 'Except for: Myiopsitta monachus'.

How this rule works: The list 12 M.R.S. § 12152(1-A) requires the department to maintain and 09-137 CMR ch. 7 § 7.06(1) describes: species needing no importation, exhibition, propagation, research or possession permit, which pet shops may also trade. Dated 11 August 2017 on every page, and this is the version IFW still serves. Three headings do most of the work: Reptilia, Serpentes and Testudines each carry "Captive Bred Origin Only", and an asterisk on an entry removes anything on the USFWS injurious or threatened and endangered lists, in CITES Appendix I, or on the IUCN Red List as Endangered, Critically Endangered or Extinct in the Wild.

Psittacidae (Parrots and their allies) except for Myiopsitta monachus (Monk Parakeet), which requires a permit,

How this rule works: One of the most species-specific schemes in the country. § 3.6 defines domestic animals, § 3.7 sets general prohibitions, § 3.9 governs permits, and § 3.17 is the long exempt list of animals that need no exotic animal possession permit. Anything not domestic, not native and not on the § 3.17 list needs a permit.

Exception for certain monk parakeets. No permit is required for monk parakeets (quakers) that have been captive bred and are closed-banded with a seamless band.

Virginia lists Myiopsitta monachus in the subsection A permit table and then writes an exception for the birds people actually buy. A captive bred quaker wearing a seamless closed band needs no permit. A wild caught bird, or one with an open band that could have been fitted later, does. The band is the whole test, so keep the paperwork that came with the bird.

Existing owners: An asterisked animal held before 1 July 1992 could be kept if declared to the department in writing by 1 January 1993. That declaration works as a possession-only permit, renews every five years and cannot be transferred.

How this rule works: Virginia permits by table. Subsection A requires a special permit from the department for every animal listed in it, on the ground that the board has declared the species predatory or undesirable because releasing it would harm Virginia's native fish and wildlife. Subsection B grandfathers asterisked animals held before 1 July 1992 if they were declared in writing by 1 January 1993, renewable every five years and not transferable. Subsection C then carves the monk parakeet back out.

Class III--This class requires no permits except those required by the department of agriculture, and includes all species not listed in other classes and includes, but is not limited to, those listed in subdivisions (3)(A)-(Q). ... Avian species not otherwise listed, excluding North American game birds, ostriches and cassowary

The statute does not reach the monk parakeet. It is named nowhere in the five classes, and the avian catch-all at (3)(F) puts it in the no-permit class. What keeps this unresolved is Class V, which is not a list at all but whatever the commission designates by rule as injurious to the environment, and an agricultural pest bird is exactly what a Class V designation is for. Those designations live in Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 1660-01-18, Rules and Regulations of Live Wildlife, which could not be read here: publications.tnsosfiles.com, sos.tn.gov and tnsos.org all sit behind a filter that returns 403 to this container, and Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis. Tennessee appears on most circulated lists of states banning the monk parakeet, and if that is right the rule chapter is where it comes from. Recorded unclear rather than legal because the statute alone cannot settle a question the commission was given the power to answer elsewhere.

How this rule works: Five classes. Class I is a specific list of inherently dangerous animals, possessable only by zoos, circuses and commercial propagators. Class II is "native species, except those listed in other classes". Class III "requires no permits except those required by the department of agriculture, and includes all species not listed in other classes", followed by seventeen illustrative subdivisions. Class IV is black bear, white-tailed deer and wild turkey; Class V is whatever the commission designates as injurious. The catch-all sitting at Class III rather than Class II is what makes Tennessee permissive, and the exception clause in Class II is what keeps native reptiles out of it. Tennessee's official code is behind LexisNexis and publications.tnsosfiles.com refuses this container, so the wording here was taken from two independent reproductions that agree: animallaw.info, which carries the current post-2024 text, and lawserver.com, whose copy is marked effective until 1 July 2024 and differs only in the snake clause, which the 2024 amendment changed from "poisonous" to "venomous".