Parrot facts for kids
Quick facts for kids ParrotsTemporal range: Eocene – Recent
54 mya – present |
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| Scientific classification | |
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Psittacopasserae
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| Order: |
Psittaciformes
Wagler, 1830
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| Superfamilies | |
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Cacatuoidea (cockatoos) |
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| Range of Parrots, all species (red) | |
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Parrots are birds of the order Psittaciformes found in most tropical and subtropical regions.
Parrots are intelligent birds. They have relatively large brains, they can learn, and they can use simple tools. Because some species have the ability to make sounds like human voices and have plumages with bright colors, many species are kept as pets.
Contents
Description
Parrots have a heavy, in relation to their size, and compact body with a large head and a short neck. Their beaks are short, strong and curved. The two parts of the beak are very strong and used to break fruits and seeds. The tongue is large and strong.
They have strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet (with two toes facing forward and two toes facing back) that help them climb up trees. Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured. The plumage of cockatoos ranges from mostly white to mostly black, with a mobile crest of feathers on the tops of their heads. Most parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism.
Classification
The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoidea ('true' parrots), the Cacatuoidea (cockatoos) and the Strigopoidea (New Zealand parrots). The greatest diversity of parrots is found in South America and Australasia.
Behaviour
Numerous challenges are found in studying wild parrots, as they are difficult to catch and once caught, they are difficult to mark. Most wild bird studies rely on banding or wing tagging, but parrots chew off such attachments. Parrots also tend to range widely, and consequently many gaps occur in knowledge of their behaviour. Some parrots have a strong, direct flight. Most species spend much of their time perched or climbing in tree canopies. They often use their bills for climbing by gripping or hooking on branches and other supports. On the ground, parrots often walk with a rolling gait.
Diet
The diet of parrots consists of seeds, fruit, nectar, pollen, buds, and sometimes arthropods and other animal prey. The most important of these for most true parrots and cockatoos are seeds. The bird's large and powerful bill has evolved to open and consume tough seeds. All true parrots, except the Pesquet's parrot, employ the same method to obtain the seed from the husk; the seed is held between the mandibles and the lower mandible crushes the husk, whereupon the seed is rotated in the bill and the remaining husk is removed. They may use their foot sometimes to hold large seeds in place.
Parrots only eat the fruit to get at the seed. As seeds often have poisons that protect them, parrots carefully remove seed coats and other chemically defended fruit parts prior to ingestion. Many species in the Americas, Africa, and Papua New Guinea consume clay, which releases minerals and absorbs toxic compounds from the gut.
Geographical range and body size predominantly explains diet composition of Neotropical parrots rather than phylogeny.
Lories, lorikeets, hanging parrots, and swift parrots are primarily nectar and pollen consumers, and have tongues with brush tips to collect it, as well as some specialised gut adaptations. Many other species also consume nectar when it becomes available.
Some parrot species prey on animals, especially invertebrate larvae. Golden-winged parakeets prey on water snails, the New Zealand kea can, though uncommonly, hunts adult sheep, and the Antipodes parakeet, another New Zealand parrot, enters the burrows of nesting grey-backed storm petrels and kills the incubating adults. Some cockatoos and the New Zealand kaka excavate branches and wood to feed on grubs; the bulk of the yellow-tailed black cockatoo's diet is made up of insects.
Some extinct parrots had carnivorous diets.
Reproduction
Parrots nest in cavities and hold no territories other than their nesting sites. The pair bonds of the parrots and cockatoos are strong and a pair remains close during the nonbreeding season, even if they join larger flocks. As with many birds, pair bond formation is preceded by courtship displays; these are relatively simple in the case of cockatoos. In Psittacidae parrots' common breeding displays, usually undertaken by the male, include slow, deliberate steps known as a "parade" or "stately walk" and the "eye-blaze", where the pupil of the eye constricts to reveal the edge of the iris.
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Only the monk parakeet and five species of lovebirds build nests in trees, and three Australian and New Zealand ground parrots nest on the ground. All other parrots and cockatoos nest in cavities, either tree hollows or cavities dug into cliffs, banks, or the ground. The use of holes in cliffs is more common in the Americas. Many species use termite nests, possibly to reduce the conspicuousness of the nesting site or to create a favourable microclimate. In most cases, both parents participate in the nest excavation. The length of the burrow varies with species, but is usually between 0.5 and 2 m (1.6 and 6.6 ft) in length. The nests of cockatoos are often lined with sticks, wood chips, and other plant material. Some species are colonial, with the burrowing parrot nesting in colonies up to 70,000 strong.
The female remains in the nest for almost all of the incubation period and is fed both by the male and during short breaks. Incubation varies from 17 to 35 days. The newly born young are altricial, either lacking feathers or with sparse white down. The young spend three weeks to four months in the nest, depending on species, and may receive parental care for several months thereafter.
The macaws and other larger parrot species produce one or very few young per year, and do not necessarily breed every year.
Intelligence and learning
Along with crows, ravens, and jays (family Corvidae), parrots are considered the most intelligent of birds. Not only have parrots demonstrated intelligence through scientific testing of their language-using ability, but also some species of parrots, such as the kea, are also highly skilled at using tools and solving puzzles.
Learning in early life is apparently important to all parrots, and much of that learning is social learning. Social interactions are often practised with siblings. Foraging behaviour is generally learnt from parents. Play forms a large part of learning in parrots. Species may engage in play fights or wild flights to practice predator evasion.
Sound imitation and speech
Many parrots can imitate human speech or other sounds. A study by scientist Irene Pepperberg suggested a high learning ability in an grey parrot named Alex. Alex was trained to use words to identify objects, describe them, count them, and even answer complex questions such as "How many red squares?" with over 80% accuracy. N'kisi, another grey parrot, has been shown to have a vocabulary around a thousand words, and has displayed an ability to invent and use words in context in correct tenses.
Grey parrots are known for their superior ability to imitate sounds and human speech, which has made them popular pets since ancient times.
Although most parrot species are able to imitate, some of the amazon parrots are generally regarded as the next-best imitators and speakers of the parrot world. The question of why birds imitate remains open, but those that do often score very high on tests designed to measure problem-solving ability. Wild grey parrots have been observed imitating other birds.
As pets
Parrots may not make good pets for most people because of their natural wild instincts such as screaming and chewing. Although parrots can be very affectionate and cute when immature, they often become aggressive when mature (partly due to mishandling and poor training) and may bite, causing serious injury.
The domesticated budgerigar, a small parrot, is the most popular of all pet bird species.
Pet parrots may be kept in a cage or aviary; though generally, tame parrots should be allowed out regularly on a stand or gym.
Parrot species that are commonly kept as pets include conures, macaws, amazon parrots, cockatoos, greys, lovebirds, cockatiels, budgerigars, caiques, parakeets, and Eclectus, Pionus, and Poicephalus species.
Parrots invariably require an enormous amount of attention, care, and intellectual stimulation to thrive, akin to that required by a three-year-old child, which many people find themselves unable to provide in the long term. Parrots that are bred for pets may be hand fed or otherwise accustomed to interacting with people from a young age to help ensure they become tame and trusting. However, even when hand fed, parrots revert to biting and aggression during hormonal surges and if mishandled or neglected. Parrots are not low-maintenance pets; they require feeding, grooming, veterinary care, training, environmental enrichment through the provision of toys, exercise, and social interaction (with other parrots or humans) for good health.
Life span
Some large parrot species, including large cockatoos, amazons, and macaws, have very long lifespans, with 80 years being reported, and record ages of over 100. Small parrots, such as lovebirds, hanging parrots, and budgies, have shorter lifespans up to 15–20 years.
Conservation
The capture of wild parrots for the pet trade, as well as hunting, habitat loss and competition from invasive species, has diminished wild populations, with parrots being subjected to more exploitation than any other group of birds. Measures taken to conserve the habitats of some high-profile species have also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the same ecosystems.
Interesting facts about parrots
- There are roughly 372 species of parrots.
- The greatest diversity of parrots is found in South America and Australasia.
- The smallest parrot is the pigmy parrot (Micropsitta pusio) with an adult weight of 11.5 g (0.41 oz) and a length of 8.6 cm (3.4 in).
- The hyacinth macaw is longer than any other species of parrot, although half that length is tail.
- The eggs of parrots are white.
- Some grey parrots have shown an ability to associate words with their meanings and form simple sentences.
- Parrots' brain-to-body size ratio is comparable to that of higher primates.
- Parrots do not have vocal cords, so sound is accomplished by expelling air across the mouth of the trachea in the organ called the syrinx. Different sounds are produced by changing the depth and shape of the trachea.
- Europe is the origin of the first presumed parrot fossils, which date from about 50 million years ago (mya)
Related pages
Images for kids
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Fossil dentary specimen UCMP 143274 restored as a parrot (left) or an oviraptorosaur
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Fossil skull of a presumed parrot relative from the Eocene Green River Formation in Wyoming
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Skeleton of a parrot
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Glossy black cockatoo showing the parrot's strong bill, clawed feet, and sideways-positioned eyes
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Eclectus parrots, male left and female right
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Most parrot species are tropical, but a few species, like this austral parakeet, range deeply into temperate zones.
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The kea is the only alpine parrot.
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Macaw parrot sitting on a tree branch
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A rose-ringed parakeet
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Hyacinth macaws were taken from the wild for the pet trade in the 1980s. As a result, Brazil now has only a very small number of breeding pairs left in the wild.
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Moche parrot, 200 CE Larco Museum Collection Lima, Peru
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Feral red-masked parakeets in San Francisco
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The Norfolk kaka went extinct in the mid-1800s due to overhunting and habitat loss.
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A mounted specimen of the Carolina parakeet, which was hunted to extinction
See also
In Spanish: Psittaciformes para niños
