The Carolina Parakeet is extinct, as direct and indirect results of human activity. Already rare by the mid-1880s, its last stand was in Florida. There, in 1920, a flock of 30 birds was the last ever seen of the only parrot native to the United States.

Once common in the southeastern United States, the Carolina Parakeet became increasingly scarce as deforestation reduced its habitat.

Furthermore, with the spread of agriculture, this bird developed a liking for the seeds of many kinds of fruit and grain crops; for this, and for its habit of gathering in great destructive flocks, it was condemned as a pest and subjected to wholesale slaughter.

It was also hunted for its brilliantly coloured feathers, and many were sold as pets.

Bird diseases that were introduced to North America may also have been a significant factor in their disappearance.

Carolina Parakeets were 31 to 33 cm (12 to 13 in.) in length. Males were larger than females.