What Is a Parrot?

Parrots are birds of all colors that usually originate from a warm habitat - think
rainforests, grasslands, savannas, semi-arid regions, and even islands. A few
species buck this trend and prefer colder climates, such as the Kea parrot, which
inhabits the alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. Parrots are so much
more than the stereotypical pirate “accessory” often portrayed in movies, books and
other media. Most parrots are wild, but people began keeping some species as
companions long ago. In fact, the San Diego Zoo website states that the first
written account of a captive parrot dates from 400 B.C. These amazing avian
companions now span the globe, living in the hearts and homes of people everywhere.
Parrots are not mammals. Their scientific classification puts them in the class
Aves, order Psittaciformes, and the family Psittacidae. Parrots are sometimes
called Psittacines. More than 350 species of parrots exist today. Add in the
different varieties/mutations among the species, and what you have is quite a lot
of parrots!
To be classified as a parrot, a bird must have a curved beak. This is why they are
sometimes called hookbills. They must also have zygodactyl feet, which means that
each foot has four toes with two facing forward and two facing backward; a bit like
the opposable thumb and fingers of humans. This gives parrots the ability to
manipulate things so well with their feet.
Although canaries, finches, doves, toucans, chickens, and other birds are kept as
companions, these species are not parrots. These species are classified in orders
other than the Psittaciformes of parrots.
Companion parrots vary in size from some of the small 5-inch lovebirds to the large
macaws, some of which can be 40 inches long, head to tail. Colors also vary by
species. Some parrots sport numerous colors, such as the lories, while others wear
two or only one color, such as Vasa parrots. And sometimes the male and female of a
species look completely different, such as the Eclectus.
Pet birds are very different from pet dogs or pet cats. These special souls bring a
new dynamic into the lives of those who share their homes with them. To live with a
parrot is a journey of discovery about these feathered friends and yourself.

Some Unique Traits of Parrots

Besides their wings and feathers, a major characteristic of a parrot is the beak.
Parrots are very adept at using their beak, it’s almost like a hand for them. They
use it to climb, hold things, manipulate things, and, of course, to eat! Beaks grow
constantly, and if a parrot’s diet and habitat don’t help keep the beak worn down,
it must be trimmed to prevent overgrowth.
Parrots have a long life span compared to many other pet species. Small birds like
budgies and lovebirds aren’t considered senior until 6 years of age, cockatiels
aren’t senior until around 12 years of age, and large birds like Amazons, macaws,
cockatoos, and African greys aren’t considered senior until they reach around 30
years old. And parrots of all sizes can live many years as seniors. This means that
adding a parrot to your family is a commitment for many years.
Parrots are birds, and female birds can lay eggs whether or not a male bird is
present; eggs just don’t hatch if unfertilized. Season and environment affect
breeding activity. Consult your avian veterinarian for information on what to
expect regarding egg laying with your parrot’s species.
A bird’s crop is a temporary storage pouch that’s located along the esophagus
between the mouth and proventriculus/stomach. The crop is useful, but it’s also
subject to crop disease or impaction.
Birds have feathers and feathers molt (shed). This means that new feathers are
needed to take the place of lost feathers. That’s where blood feathers come in.
Blood feathers are actively growing feathers. They are shorter than mature feathers
and have a softer shaft that’s reddish, blue, or black near the base instead of
being white. If a growing feather is bent or cut, it could bleed. Sometimes, blood
feathers will break and bleed if a bird falls or thrashes about inside the cage. In
this case, you’ll have to pull the feather out from its root to get it to stop
bleeding. Ask your avian veterinarian how to handle the situation if your bird
suffers a broken blood feather.
Wing feather trims must be done with care. Never trim blood feathers. It’s a good
idea to leave feathers on either side of a blood feather intact, which will help
protect it.
As mentioned before, parrots have zygodactyl feet. These allow them to grip and
climb. Perches are important to parrot foot health. Providing numerous perches in
and out of the cage with the proper diameter and various textures promotes good
foot health. So, too, does keeping the nails trimmed. Regularly trimming nails also
minimizes scratches you might suffer while holding your parrot. Your avian
veterinarian or a professional bird groomer can perform nail trims or show you how
to do it.
The upper side of the tail of most parrots has a two-lobed gland called the
uropygial gland, also called the preen gland. It’s known to produce a secretion
that parrots use in grooming. The secretion reacts with sunlight or full-spectrum
light to produce vitamin D3 that parrots ingest during grooming. Vitamin D3 is
necessary for good health. Some people speculate that the secretion also aids birds
in differentiating the gender of other birds. Birds can make their feather water
resistant by rubbing oils from their preen gland onto their feathers, which is why
often see a bird rub its head on the base of its tail and then rub its head along
its feathers. Parrots that notably lack a uropygial gland are Amazons and the
macaws in the genera Anodorhynchus and Cyanopsitta.
Parrots’ eyes are laterally placed (on the side of their head), which gives them a
larger field of vision but also creates a blind spot directly in front of their
beak. They also have monocular vision, where only one eye is focused on a
particular object. Parrots can also voluntarily contract their pupils (referred to
as eye pinning), whereas our pupils and those of other mammals dilate automatically
to light levels and some medications. Eye pinning can indicate a parrot’s mood;
rapid eye pinning usually indicates excitement.

Popular Parrots
If there were a popularity contest among the companion parrots, the top contenders
would likely be cockatiels, budgerigars (budgies/parakeets), African greys,
conures, cockatoos, Amazons, lovebirds, parrotlets, and those from the genus
Poicephalus, such as Senegal and Meyer’s parrots. Popularity could be due to size,
personality, looks, vocalizations, or any number of factors. With so many pet
parrot species, people can investigate and find the feathered companion who best
blends with their home and lifestyle.

Native Region / Natural Habitat

The natural habitat of parrots varies by species, however, many hail from tropical
or subtropical areas in South America, Central America, Africa, and Australasia.
Parrots from the Americas are sometimes called New World and those from Africa and
Australasia are called Old World.

Care & Feeding

A cage provides parrots with a retreat that they know is their territory in your
home. It also assists in meeting your parrot’s needs, such as controlling lighting;
parrots ideally need 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.
The size of the cage varies by species. All parrots need a cage that allows them to
spread their wings freely in the fully accessorized cage. Species with long tails
need cages that are tall enough to accommodate the tail length. Did you catch the
phrase fully accessorized? You need to furnish your feathered friend’s “bird cave.”
Research the best cage material for your parrot’s species.
The Merck Veterinary Manual offers the following general guidelines for size: 20 x
20 x 30 inches for budgies, cockatiels, lovebirds, or parrotlets; 36 x 24 x 48
inches for conures, Poicephalus, caiques, miniature macaws; 40 x 30 x 60 inches for
African grey parrots, Amazon parrots, and small cockatoos; 48 x 36 x 66 inches for
macaws and large cockatoos. Bar spacing ranges from 0.5 inches to 1.5 inches for
the smallest to largest species. Keep in mind that these suggested sizes are
minimum for a single bird, and a bigger cage is always better! If you choose to
keep multiple parrots, be prepared to offer a cage for each. Sharing a cage usually
only works for the same species, and even that isn’t a guarantee that birds will
get along. Never house birds together that show any aggression toward each other.
And be absolutely certain you know the sex of your birds before letting any share a
cage.
Keeping the cage clean is critical to your parrot’s health. Get into a regular
routine of daily tasks like changing out paper and cleaning dishes and water
bottles and weekly and monthly tasks like toy rotation and deep cleaning.
Parrots groom themselves, but they need some help from you. Provide the
opportunities for bathing, be it hanging out in the bathroom while you shower or
misting water above their head. Turn on the shower and see if your feathered friend
wants to check it out or splash in the sink with the faucet on. Besides bathing,
other regular grooming your parrot might need includes beak trims, wing trims, and
nail trims. Consult your avian veterinarian for recommendations on these for your
parrot.
Eating like a bird means different things to different species. Parrots are mostly
known for eating seeds, nuts, fruit, and vegetables, but most are omnivores rather
than herbivores. And some, namely the lory, mainly eat nectar. Some species are
more prone to vitamin deficiencies and some are prone to obesity. That’s why a
balanced diet is so important. Nutri-Berries deliver a balanced diet that’s also
tasty and interesting to promote nutritious foraging. For variety, other healthy,
balanced Lafeber foods include Avi-Cakes, Fruit Delight Avi-Cakes, Gourmet Nutri-
Berries, Pellet Berries, and Senior Bird Nutri-Berries. For a treat, try Popcorn
Nutri-Berries.
In addition to a balanced diet, parrots enjoy eating some fresh foods daily. These
are snacks, so keep portions balanced for the size of your bird. Berries, bananas,
leafy greens, and squash are some of the healthy foods safe to feed parrots. Some
foods you might consider healthy are actually bad food for birds, so do your
homework and consult your avian veterinarian about any foods you doubt the safety
of for your bird.
Where to eat might be as important to some birds as what to eat. Cockatiels, for
example, are ground foragers and would likely prefer their food served on the floor
of their cage. Find out the preferred eating style of your parrot’s species.

Personality & Behavior

Parrots can be loud or quiet, boisterous or reserved, problem-solvers or laid-back.
Sound contradictory? That’s because parrots are individuals with individual
personalities. Some generalities among species are recognized, but keep in mind
that any bird can be the exception to a generalization.
Before jumping into species generalizations, differences also exist based on age.
Young and immature birds that are cute and cuddly can become more demanding or even
aggressive when they mature and breeding season arrives. And older birds might turn
standoffish or needy, depending on the changes that occur as they age.
The Lafeber Pet Bird Selector classifies companion birds into four categories of
interaction: Highly social, social, somewhat social, and hands off. The most
species fall into the social category. Being social doesn’t necessarily mean a bird
wants to cuddle, but your attention is a must. Highly social birds range from the
intelligent and sensitive African greys to the almost needy cockatoos. The social
species include cockatiels, budgies, several species of macaws, Amazons, lovebirds,
parrotlets, and more. Let them know they’re part of your family/flock, and all is
well. The bird species that are hands-off according to the bird selector are
actually not parrots. They are finches, canaries, and doves. Set them up in a nice
habitat and enjoy watching and listening to them. Finally, the category with the
smallest number of birds is the one called somewhat social. Rosella parrots make up
this category. Consistent interaction with them keeps them tame.
One thing that’s common for almost all parrots is that they’re messy. Eating for
birds is an event, and they enjoy interacting with their food. That means food gets
dropped, flung, squirted, and ricocheted. This is natural for parrots, and part of
the reason that the nutritious foraging of Lafeber foods is such a bonus. It
delivers excellent nutrition while encouraging interaction, and every bit is so
tasty that parrots seek it out. In addition to food mess, bird droppings create
debris. Some species, like cockatoos and cockatiels, emit a fine dust from their
feathers. Put all of this into a cage where a bird moves around and flaps, and it’s
a recipe for a mess. But numerous inventions help minimize this and today’s cleanup
tools make keeping your parrot’s cage clean quick and easy.
Parrots are known to be intelligent, African grey parrots in particular, as
documented by Dr. Irene Pepperberg. Never underestimate a parrot’s ability to
understand you, escape from an enclosure, or reach something the parrot wants.
Opportunities for play and interaction are important for all parrots, whether with
you or with another of the parrot’s species. Toys are critical for parrots,
especially puzzle toys, foot toys, destroy toys, mirrors, bells, and more.

Speech & Sound

One of the most endearing traits of parrots for many people is their ability to
talk or mimic noises. Vocal ability varies among species, some are loud, others
more quiet; some can learn to speak a human language, while others might only speak
bird. Our Pet Bird Selector classifies birds into four categories: vocal
communicator, chatterer, whistler, and relatively quiet. Some species fall into
more than one category. Only one species is considered relatively quiet: The Vasa
parrot.
Possibly the best mimics of human speech are African greys, Amazons, budgies, myna
birds, Indian ring-necked parakeets, and Quaker parrots. However, just because a
species is known to be a “talker” doesn’t mean that a specific bird will talk. All
birds are individuals.
Most species are noisiest at dawn and dusk or when wanting to make contact calls
with their flock (which could be you, the owner!).

Health & Common Conditions

Parrots that are fed healthy food in proper portions, live in a clean, safe
environment with plenty of room for exercise, and get plenty of interaction with
their owner or other birds of their species enjoy the best chance at a happy,
healthy life. Of course, not everything in life can be controlled, and genetics can
affect the potential for some ailments. For example, cockatiels might be more prone
to chronic egg laying problems, lories more often suffer from hemochromatosis, and
Eclectus can suffer from toe-tapping/wing-flapping spasms.
Following is a list of some of the health concerns that parrots face. Some are
caused by nutrition issues, some by viruses or bacteria, others by parasites, some
are injuries, etc. Consult with your avian veterinarian to learn which ailments
might affect your feathered friend, signs to watch for, and whether you can do
anything to minimize risks.
Calcium deficiency leads to Avian polyomavirus. Vitamin A deficiency leads to
Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD). Vitamin B deficiency causes Respiratory
infection, Obesity causes Psittacosis. Fatty liver disease leads to Chlamydiosis.
Beak malocclusion causes Proventricular Dilatation Disease (PDD). Trauma from
accidents leads to Aspergillosis. Feather picking leads to Chronic egg laying.
Tumors, goiters, and other conditions related to an all-seed diet causes
Hemochromatosis. Mites (air-sac, scaly, feather, red) leads to Toe-tapping and
wing-flipping muscle spasms.

Parrot Populations In The Wild

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN)
tracks threatened species in the wild. Some of the species kept as companions that
are currently classified as endangered include: African grey (both Congo African
grey and Timneh African grey species), lilac-crowned Amazon, Lear’s macaw, sun
parakeet, and yellow-headed Amazon. Many more parrot species are vulnerable or near
threatened, although some species are plentiful and currently face no threat.
Quick Facts
More than 350 species of parrots live today
Parrots have hooked beaks and zygodactyl feet