Parrot

For other uses, see Parrot (disambiguation).

Parrots
Temporal range: Eocene–Holocene 50–0 Ma
A montage of six different types of parrot. Clockwise from top to bottom, these are two images of a large, squat, dull-green parrot; a skinny black parrot similar to a crow; a blue-black parrot with red cheeks and a large, hooked bill; a blue and yellow parrot with a hooked black beak and a white face; and a small, bright green parrot with a yellow collar and a black face.KākāpōAustralian ringneckBlue-and-yellow macawKeaLesser vasa parrotPalm cockatoo
Clockwise top to bottom: the Kākāpō and the Kea, both found in New Zealand, the Lesser vasa parrot endemic to Madagascar, the Palm cockatoo, the South American blue-and-yellow macaw, and the Australian ringneck.
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Clade: Psittacopasseres
Order: Psittaciformes
Wagler, 1830
Superfamilies
Range of parrots, all species (red)

Parrots (Psittaciformes), also known as psittacines (/ˈsɪtəsaɪnz/),[1][2] are birds with a strong curved beak, upright stance, and clawed feet.[a] They are classified in four families that contain roughly 410 species in 101 genera, found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The four families are the Psittaculidae (Old World parrots), Psittacidae (African and New World parrots), Cacatuoidea (cockatoos), and Strigopidae (New Zealand parrots). One-third of all parrot species are threatened by extinction, with a higher aggregate extinction risk (IUCN Red List Index) than any other comparable bird group.[3] Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is in South America[4] and Australasia.[5]

Parrots—along with ravens, crows, jays, and magpies—are among the most intelligent birds, and the ability of some species to imitate human speech enhances their popularity as pets. They form the most variably sized bird order in terms of length; many are vividly coloured and some, multi-coloured. Most parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism in the visual spectrum.

salvaged grey African parrot

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.

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 wild birds. As of 2021, about 50 million parrots (half of all parrots) live in captivity, with the vast majority of these living as pets in people's homes.[6] 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.

Parrots are the only creatures that display true tripedalism, using their necks and beaks as limbs with propulsive forces equal to or greater than those forces generated by the forelimbs of primates when climbing vertical surfaces. They can travel with cyclical tripedal gaits when climbing.[7]

  1. ^ "Psittacine". American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000. Archived from the original on 27 August 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  2. ^ "Psittacine". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster, Inc. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  3. ^ Olah, George; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Symes, Andy; Guzmán, Iliana Medina; Cunningham, Ross; Brightsmith, Donald J.; Heinsohn, Robert (2016). "Ecological and socio-economic factors affecting extinction risk in parrots" (PDF). Biodiversity and Conservation. 25 (2): 205–223. Bibcode:2016BiCon..25..205O. doi:10.1007/s10531-015-1036-z. ISSN 0960-3115. S2CID 17282072.
  4. ^ Berkunsky, I.; Quillfeldt, P.; Brightsmith, D.J.; Abbud, M.C.; Aguilar, J.M.R.E.; Alemán-Zelaya, U.; Aramburú, R.M.; Arce Arias, A.; Balas McNab, R.; Balsby, T.J.S.; Barredo Barberena, J.M.; Beissinger, S.R.; Rosales, M.; Berg, K.S.; Bianchi, C.A. (2017). "Current threats faced by Neotropical parrot populations". Biological Conservation. 214: 278–287. Bibcode:2017BCons.214..278B. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2017.08.016. hdl:11449/170151.
  5. ^ Olah, George; Theuerkauf, Jörn; Legault, Andrew; Gula, Roman; Stein, John; Butchart, Stuart; O’Brien, Mark; Heinsohn, Robert (2018-01-02). "Parrots of Oceania – a comparative study of extinction risk" (PDF). Emu - Austral Ornithology. 118 (1): 94–112. Bibcode:2018EmuAO.118...94O. doi:10.1080/01584197.2017.1410066. ISSN 0158-4197. S2CID 135275510.
  6. ^ Mellor, Emma L.; McDonald Kinkaid, Heather K.; Mendl, Michael T.; Cuthill, Innes C.; van Zeeland, Yvonne R. A.; Mason, Georgia J. (6 October 2021). "Nature calls: intelligence and natural foraging style predict poor welfare in captive parrots". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 288 (1960). doi:10.1098/rspb.2021.1952. PMC 8493207. PMID 34610768.
  7. ^ Melody W. Young, Edwin Dickinson, Nicholas D. Flaim and Michael C. Granatosky (2022). Overcoming a ‘forbidden phenotype’: the parrot’s head supports, propels and powers tripedal locomotion, Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 20220245, https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2022.0245


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