Parrots that make great pets, are fascinating creatures, and as a broad category including Macaws, Amazons, Lorikeets, Lovebirds and Cockatoos. Here are some funny parrot facts about this large group of birds:
Parrots belong to two major groups, Psittacidae and cacutaidae. The cacutaidae family has a movable head comb while Psittacidae are distinguished by their vivid colors. There are also skeletal differences between the two, as cacatuidae have a gall bladder and a second skull.
Parrots in the wild is largely found in tropical areas in South America , Australia and New Guinea Africa and the Asian mainland.
It is interesting to note that the parrot fossils found in Europe , going as far back as the Eocene period, and 50 million years old! Fossils most directly corresponds to today's parrots in the form of bone structure and appearance are about 23 million years old.
Parrots have been part of human history too long as there are Egyptian hieroglyphics indicate that the pet was in royal families. There are references to them during the Greek and Roman times also.
There are a wide variety in the size of parrots. The pygmy of New Guinea
One of the parrots facts that I find interesting is that these birds, which come in almost every imaginable color, the ordinary white eggs!
Parrots have zygodactyl feet, which means that the parrots have two toes that point backwards and two toes that point forward. This accounts for a lot of climbing ability or the parrots, making them particularly dexterous in the use of their feet.
The lifespan of a parrot appears to be anywhere from 10 years to 80 years. Smaller parrots live 10 to 15 years, while large parrots such as macaws and cockatoos live more than 75 years. These birds become sexually mature in 1 to 4 years.
An interesting fact about Macaws and Cockatoos is that they can fly 500 miles per day in search of food. Drain capacity and lifetime is interesting to note, as an indicator of the strength of these birds.
Another of the interesting facts are parrots that nest in holes. With very few exceptions, to build stick nests, they build their homes in holes in trees, rock cavities, land tunnels or even Termite Mounds.
Parrots basically eat fruit, seeds, buds, nectar and pollen in nature. Sometimes they will eat insects. Their strong beaks are connected, and this helps them to crack nuts. They have a thick muscular tongue.
They feed their young by regurgitation. Some varieties of parrots have unusual taste. The Golden-winged parakeets love to eat aquatic snails and New Zealand Kees scavenge abandoned sheep carcasses.
Parrots are known as the talking birds, but what they achieve is imitation or mimicry. A parrot surprising fact is that they have no vocal cords.
They produce sound by pushing air out of their trachea and control their pitch by changing the shape and depth of the trachea. So their 'talk' is actually closer to human whistled. They have an impressive array of articulations and pet parrots use this ability to mimic humans and other sounds they hear.
The African gray parrots can be said to be the best mimics. Parrots in the wild and flocks are some of the noisiest birds out there. It is said that some parrot sounds can be heard from as far away as a mil.
Some parrots are in danger of extinction and conservation efforts are underway to prevent this. Spixs Macaw is one of the threatened species for which there are only 7 in captivity. Breeding in captivity is a step in increasing the number of parrots as these. Growing awareness of this issue will go a long way from the problem.
There is much more about these amazing creatures. I hope you have enjoyed learning these facts parrot!
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