Parrot Trivia | 40 facts about the bird

Parrots are cute birds, that some people own as pets. Their most known characteristic is that they can repeat words once they hear people saying them.

This is not the only, and most common characteristic, that makes parrots unique. So, let’s find out more about them!

Parrots, also known as psittacines are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciforme.
They are found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions.
The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoidea (“true” parrots), the Cacatuoidea (cockatoos), and the Strigopoidea (New Zealand parrots).
One-third of all parrot species are threatened by extinction.
This is the higher aggregate extinction risk (IUCN Red List Index) than any other comparable bird group.
Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere, as well.
The greatest diversity of parrots is in South America and Australasia.
Characteristic features of parrots include a strong, curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet.
Many parrots are vividly coloured, and some are multi-coloured.
Most parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism in the visual spectrum.
They form the most variably sized bird order in terms of length.
The most important components of most parrots’ diets are seeds, nuts, fruit, buds, and other plant material. A few species sometimes eat animals and carrion, while the lories and lorikeets are specialised for feeding on floral nectar and soft fruits.
Almost all parrots nest in tree hollows (or nest boxes in captivity), and lay white eggs from which hatch altricial (helpless) young.
Parrots, along with ravens, crows, jays, and magpies, are among the most intelligent birds.
The ability of some species to imitate human speech enhances their popularity as pets.
Trapping 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 charismatic species have also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the same ecosystems.
The earliest records of modern parrots date to around 23–20 mya.
The fossil record—mainly from Europe—consists of bones clearly recognisable as belonging to anatomically modern parrots.
The Southern Hemisphere contains no known parrot-like remains earlier than the Early Miocene around 20 mya.
The name ‘Psittaciformes’ comes from the ancient Greek for parrot, ψιττακός (‘Psittacus’), whose origin is unclear.
Ctesias (5th century BCE) recorded the name Psittacus after the Indian name for a bird, most likely a parakeet (now placed in the genus Psittacula).
Pliny the Elder (23/24–79 CE) in his Natural History (book 10, chapter 58) noted that the Indians called the bird as “siptaces”.
However, no matching Indian name has been traced.
As a famous research subject, the African grey parrot Alex was said to have the intelligence of a human 5-year-old.
Now the psittacine tribe can claim another brainy feat: tool use. Researchers at the University of York and the University of St. Andrews observed captive greater vasa parrots (Coracopsis vasa) using date pits and pebbles to pulverize cockle shells. Male vasas ate the powder and then offered a regurgitated calcium-rich snack to females before mating. Be thankful you get chocolates.
Like most other birds, parrots have four toes per foot. But instead of the usual three-in-front-one-behind arrangement, parrot toes are configured for maximum grip: two in front and two behind, like two pairs of opposable thumbs.
Many parrots are omnivores and will eat pretty much anything—fruit, seeds, nuts, insects and even meat.
Some species, like the rainbow-colored lories and lorikeets of the South Pacific, feed almost exclusively on nectar with brush-tipped tongues, though recently even these birds were seen eating meat at feeding stations in Australia.
In New Zealand, native kea (Nestor species) were first observed attacking and killing sheep in 1868 and were persecuted as sheep-killers until 1986, when they were granted protected status.
Of the roughly 350 known species of parrots, most live in the tropical and subtropical regions of Australia, Asia, Central and South America and Africa. But some parrots break that geographic mold.
Keas live in alpine regions of New Zealand and nest in ground burrows, while the endangered maroon-fronted parrot (Rhynchopsitta terrisi) dwells at 6,000 feet in the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains of Mexico.
With a couple of notable exceptions, males and females of most parrot species look virtually identical. It takes a keen eye—and usually a lab test—to tell a boy bird from a girl bird.
But some species, like the Solomon Island eclectus (Eclectus roratus), are so different that for many years people thought they were distinct species of birds.
Males are bright emerald green with flame-colored beaks, while females top off their crimson and royal blue ensembles with black beaks and a bright scarlet head.
Though parrots do have some taste glands at the backs of their throats, most of their 300 or so taste buds are located on the roofs of their mouths.
Compared with the 10,000 taste buds in a human mouth, the birds’ palate may not seem like much, but parrots do show definite preferences for certain foods
Parrots cover an incredible range of shapes and sizes. The tiny buff-faced pygmy (Micropsitta pusio) weighs a mere ounce and is about the size of an adult human’s finger.
The world’s longest parrot is the brilliant hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), checking in at nearly 3.5 feet from tip to tail.
But New Zealand’s flightless, nocturnal kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) wins for weight: A fully grown male can register as much as nine pounds—the average weight of an adult housecat.