The monk parakeet is a parrot of average size, reaching a length of about 29cm (11 1/2 inches) from head to tip of tail. Both females and males have a bright green body, gray forehead, cheeks and breast, blue-black flight feathers, gray legs and a rosy, pale orange or yellow beak. This parrot is the only species of its genus, and is the only Psittaciform that builds its nest out of sticks.