The Parrot familly

A parrot is described as any bird in the order Psittaciformes of the bird family. Parrots are even further split into three super families:

The true Parrots

The Cockatoos

And the Parrots of New Zealand

Parrot anatomy:





Top: My parrot R2's wing, topside.

The Skull of Parrots has a different design from all other birds.

 All parrots though share similar features. All have a specially designed beak and skull that allows them to crack nuts and peel into fruits. With their uniquely shaped beak parrots also have strong unique shaped tongues that they use to taste and help manipulate objects.

They have Zygodactyl feet this means they have two toes facing foreword and two facing backward. This foot design is also seen in owls, toucans and woodpeckers and helps the bird hold objects and cling to trees. Research and my own observations with my parrot show that parrots have a preference to use one foot over the other like humans with their hands.
All with the exception of some unique species in New Zealand are capable of flight though Parrots in general would rather walk than fly. Unless he gets spooked or wants to follow his people or get something my conure R2 rarely flies. Instead he prefers to do a funny yet somehow cute waddle walk all over the place.

Size and colouring:


  Parrots range in size from 10 grams and only 8 cm to the one meter macaws and the 4 kg Kakapo, yes that is its name I ain’t making it up. Parrots are generally a green colour with flashes of other colours while some break out of this rule. Cockatoos are either black or white with a bit of colour either on their head or tails with a few exceptions such as cockatiels or the pink coloured Galah. Parrots generally don’t show any difference in sexes with only the Eclectus parrot of Australia being the exception.

Diet:



A pair of Eclectus parrots. Females red while Male is green.



            Parrots are fruit and seed eaters that supplement their diet with arthropods, insects and spiders, and small animal prey including the eggs of smaller birds. Unlike other seed eaters parrots destroy seeds not disperse them. A few species such as the Lories and Lorikeets of Australia are pollen eaters and this tends to make them harder to own as a pet since it is harder to give them a balanced diet compared to the other parrots. In the pet world Parrots can have grains fruits and vegetables and even, they love this, meat. Things parrots can’t have are avocadoes, guacamole, the pits and area around the pits of pitted fruits like peaches and cherries, any form of caffeine, chocolate, alcohol, other pets foods, raw potatoes(cooked are fine, my parrot loves creamy mashed potatoes), foods high in salt or sugar, tomatoes and pork.

Habitat:

            Parrots are tropical dwellers but many have escaped in temperate regions such as the states as far north as New York, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Spain and now maintain stable and thriving populations. Parrots are arboreal (tree dwelling for those who don’t know what arboreal means) birds that are common in tropical woodlands. Rarely do parrots migrate and if they do they usually don’t go far from their original home. Currently the bird trade, habitat destruction, hunting and invasive species are the current and ongoing threats to wild parrot populations. To prevent the illegal bird trade only buy your companion parrot from a reputable breeder or a rescue center. In order to tell if the Parrot is from a breeder or the illegal bird trade look at its leg band (all domestic parrots and other birds have one). A breeders band is closed meaning there is no open space in the band so it was put on when the hatchling was still small enough to slide the band on over its feet while a trade bird has a open band, band with a gap in it, since the bird was almost certainly caught when fully grown and the only way to get the band on was to wrap it around the leg.

Intelligence:



A Grey who has plucked its feathers off, if the behaviour continues
the skin could get damaged and the birds feathers  will never grow
back. Feather plucking is either caused by illness or, more commenly,
boredem and seperation anxiety.



            Parrots along with the members of the Crow and Jay family are regarded to have the highest intelligence in the bird realm with an intelligence possibly as high as humans. They have amazing problem solving abilities and can recognize colours and objects by words. They also have the ability to make and use tools and can understand abstract thoughts such as the concept of zero. Mimicry and speech is not unique to the parrots, the lyrebird of Australia is amazing at its mimicking abilities while crows can learn the human language but their voices are more gravely, not as clear and not as pleasant as parrot voices. The language abilities of parrots are astonishing. An African Grey named Alex, who passed away in September of 2007 at age 31, manage to learn over 150 words and could understand them plus he could use proper grammar and another Grey named N’Kisi has learned over a thousand words and is able to invent words to describe things and even use proper grammar and advanced English skills. N’Kisi even once asked Jane Goodall “Got a Chimp?” when he met her after only seeing her in a picture with a chimp. These kinds of abilities are not unique to Greys, though they tend to be the most skilled at it, all parrots have shown at least some linguistic skills. Due to their extreme intelligence Parrots must have constant environmental enrichment and some species like the Grey need to regularly receive mental challenges to keep them from getting bored and performing terrible self mutilations such as feather plucking.

Special note on Alex the African Grey:



Alex the Parrot with Irene Pepperberg.



            Alex is a pretty famous parrot who was owned and the main participant in the studies of animal intelligence by Irene Pepperberg. He was able to answer complex questions, use human language in the proper English and even able to make words up to describe things he didn’t know, he called an apple a banerry. Before his death Alex was able to demonstrate that his perception of optical illusions was the same as humans and like children he could get bored. He was hatched in 1976 and died September 6 2007 from hardening of the arteries overnight. The last words he had said were “You be good, see you tomorrow. I love you”. He had died a young bird at 31 years; Greys can live for 60 years.