The Argentine Parrot (Myiopsitta monachus), is an invasive species that, despite its beauty, causes serious economic and environmental impacts in our cities. The accidental escape of specimens since the mid-80s has caused the establishment and expansion of the species in numerous cities in Spain and other neighboring countries. This has motivated its inclusion in the Spanish Catalog of Invasive Alien Species (Royal Decree 1628/2011 and 630/2013).

Argentine parrot (source: https://avesdeciudad.com/category/loros/)

Our students are part of a project with the City Council of Móstoles coordinated from the Service Learning Office of the URJC. Among its objectives, count the number of nests and carry out surveys of the population to find out the perception that citizens have about this problem. Knowing how many parrots there are in the municipality and where they are is the first step in designing a control strategy for this species. To do this, they use a collaborative tool based on Google Maps, which allows the location of any parrot nest to be incorporated in real time. This information will later be transferred to the City Council to find a solution to the problem.