African Grey Parrot

Lore & Background

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 fruit. 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. 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.

In Their Own Story

Living species range in size from the buff-faced pygmy parrot, at under 10 g (0.4 oz) in weight and 8 cm (3.1 in) in length, to the hyacinth macaw, at 1 m (3.3 ft) in length, and the kākāpō, at 4.0 kg (8.8 lb) in weight. 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. 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 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.

Reader's Guide

Parrots are classified in four families: Psittaculidae (Old World parrots), Psittacidae (African and New World parrots), Cacatuidae (cockatoos), and Strigopidae (New Zealand parrots). The Cacatuoidea are distinct from the rest of the order in having a movable head crest, a different arrangement of the carotid arteries, a gall bladder, differences in the skull bones, and in lacking the Dyck texture feathers that, in the Psittacidae, scatter light to produce the vibrant colours of many parrots. Colourful feathers with high levels of psittacofulvin resist the feather-degrading bacterium Bacillus licheniformis better than white ones. Most parrots exhibit little or no sexual dimorphism in the visual spectrum.

Did You Know?

• Parrots, along with corvids, are among the most intelligent birds.
• Parrots are the only creatures that display true tripedalism, using their necks and beaks as limbs when climbing vertical surfaces.
• One-third of all parrot species are threatened by extinction, with a higher aggregate extinction risk than any other comparable bird group.
• As of 2021, about 50 million parrots (half of all parrots) live in captivity, with the vast majority living as pets in people's homes.
• The name 'Psittaciformes' comes from the ancient Greek for parrot, ψιττακός ('Psittacus'), first recorded by Ctesias in the 5th century BCE.