Pet parrots can be wonderful if they require companionship, but they can bring some surprising challenges for people who are more used to fluffy mammalian companions. Long-lived, intelligent, and extremely social birds require especially high levels of care and stimulation; otherwise, they may pick up bad habits and become bored and stressed to the point of plucking themselves.
While some pet parrots are obtained from breeders, the trade-in of exotic parrots is a large business around the world, contributing significantly to their natural population decline. Trafficking in wild birds has decreased in the United States with the passage of the 1992 Wild Bird Conservation Act and CITES, which imposed restrictions on the importation of alien species.
1- A Parrot-Proof Tracker Is on the Horizon
Little is known about wild parrot behavior, in part because the birds live in the canopy and are difficult to observe and chase. GPS-tracking parrot studies are also extremely rare, as birds can remove foreign things from their body. However, recent findings published in The Auk in 2015 may help researchers better monitor these elusive species. The scientists were able to monitor a group of keas in New Zealand without causing any obvious harm to the birds by wrapping GPS devices in bite-proof plastic.
2- The Black Palm Is the Panda of Parrots
The black palm cockatoo, which is endemic to rainforests in the South Pacific, is one of the most difficult birds to rear in captivity. Chicks frequently perish about a year old; even wild pairings have difficulty rearing chicks efficiently. The causes of their reproductive abnormalities are unknown, however, they may be related to their photosensitive skin, which responds to natural sunshine.
3. The world record holder knew more than 1,700 words.
In 1995, the Guinness Book of World Records honored Puck, a blue parakeet, for his impressive vocabulary of 1,728 words. Amazon parrots can also sing, such as Groucho, who performed “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window” on TV in 2010.
4- Some Parrots Migrate
Although most species maintain a year-round home range, the fast parrot (Lathamus discolor) and orange-bellied parrot (Neophema chrysogaster) are known to travel annually between Australia and Tasmania across the Bass Strait. Both species are under great threat.
5- Parrot Feathers Contain Antibacterial Pigments
The magnificent plumage of a parrot offers a unique defense against harm: psittacofulvine, a bacteria-resistant pigment found exclusively in parrots, gives the birds’ feathers their red, yellow, and green color. In a 2011 study published in Biology Letters, researchers exposed different feather hues to a bacteria that damages feathers and observed that the pigments helped protect the beautiful plumage from destruction.
6- Your Pet Parrot May Outlive You
Many parrots have human-like lifespans, which many people are unaware of while looking for a parrot as a friend. Larger species, such as macaws and cockatoos, are known to live for 35 to 50 years. Tarbu, an African grey in England, lived to the age of 55. Cookie, an 82-year-old Major Mitchell’s cockatoo (Lophochroa leadbeateri) from Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, is the world’s oldest parrot.
7. The heaviest parrot weighs as much as a cat.
Parrots come in an incredible diversity of shapes and sizes. The small pygmy (Micropsitta pusio) weighs only one ounce and measures about the size of an adult human finger. The beautiful hyacinth macaw (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus) is the world’s longest parrot, measuring about 3.5 feet from tip to tail. However, New Zealand’s flightless, nocturnal kakapo (Strigops habroptilus) prevails in terms of weight: a fully grown male can weigh up to nine pounds, which is equivalent to the typical adult housecat weight.
8. Parrots taste with the tops of their beaks.
Parrots have taste glands in their throats, however, the majority of their taste buds are placed on the roofs of their mouths (about 300). The birds’ palette may appear to be little in comparison to the 10,000 taste receptors in a human mouth, yet parrots do have specific dietary preferences.
9- Parrots Usually Match Their Mates
With a few significant exceptions, men and females in most parrot species appear nearly identical. Telling a boy bird from a girl bird requires a good eye—and, in most cases, a laboratory test. However, some species, such as the Solomon Island Eclectus (Eclectus roratus), are so unique that they were mistaken for separate bird species for many years. Males are vivid emerald green with flame-colored beaks, and females finish off their crimson and royal blue outfits with black beaks and a bright scarlet head.
10- A Third of the World’s Parrots Face Extinction
More species are routinely added to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as a result of habitat degradation and continued poaching for the pet trade. For example, a November study showed that logging has devastated 99 percent of Ghana’s African gray population (Psittacus erithacus), endangering the natural populations of one of the most iconic parrots.
11- Not All Parrots Are Tropical
The majority of the over 350 known parrot species live in the tropical and subtropical regions of Australia, Asia, Central and South America, and Africa. However, some parrots defy geographical stereotypes. Keas nest in ground burrows in alpine New Zealand, whereas the endangered maroon-fronted parrot (Rhynchopsitta terrisi) lives at 6,000 feet in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Oriental Mountains.
12- Polly Wants Mutton, Too
Many parrots are omnivorous, meaning they will eat almost anything, including fruit, seeds, nuts, insects, and meat. Some species, such as the South Pacific rainbow-colored lories and lorikeets, feed almost entirely on nectar with brush-tipped tongues, though these birds have lately been seen eating meat at feeding stations in Australia. Native kea (Nestor species) were first spotted attacking and slaughtering sheep in New Zealand in 1868, and they were prosecuted as such until 1986 when they were awarded protected status.
13- Parrot Toes Are Zygodactyl
Parrots, like other birds, have four toes on each foot. However, instead of the typical three-in-front-one-behind layout, parrot toes are designed for optimum grip: two in front and two behind, similar to two pairs of opposable thumbs. Their distinctive feet, along with beaks capable of cracking even the toughest nuts, make them powerful feeders as well as agile climbers.
14- Some Parrots Grind Their Calcium Supplements
As a famous research subject, the African grey parrot Alex was believed to have the intelligence of a 5-year-old human. The psittacine tribe can now claim another impressive feat: the ability to use tools. Researchers from the University of York and the University of St. Andrews witnessed captive larger vasa parrots (Coracopsis vasa) using date pits and pebbles to pulverize cockles. Male vasas consumed the powder and then regurgitated a calcium-rich snack for females before mating. Be thankful that you received chocolates.
15- They taste with the roofs of their mouths
Taste: Parrots are thought to have a weak sense of taste because taste buds are located on the roof of their mouths rather than on their tongues. Birds can taste, but just in flavor because they have fewer taste buds than other animals.
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