Photograph by Nicole Duplaix
Map
Parrot Range
Audio
Fast Facts
- Type:
- Bird
- Diet:
- Omnivore
- Average life span in the wild:
- Up to 80 years
- Size:
- 3.5 in (8.7cm) to 40 in (100 cm)
- Weight:
- 2.25 oz (65 g) to 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg)
- Size relative to a tea cup:
The parrots are a broad order of more than 350 birds. Macaws, Amazons, lorikeets, lovebirds, cockatoos and many others are all considered parrots.
Though there is great diversity among these birds, there are similarities as well. All parrots have curved beaks and all are zygodactyls, meaning they have four toes on each foot, two pointing forward and two projecting backward. Most parrots eat fruit, flowers, buds, nuts, seeds, and some small creatures such as insects.
Parrots are found in warm climates all over most of the world. The greatest diversities exist in Australasia, Central America, and South America.
Many parrots are kept as pets, especially macaws, Amazon parrots, cockatiels, parakeets, and cockatoos. These birds have been popular companions throughout history because they are intelligent, charismatic, colorful, and musical. Some birds can imitate many nonavian sounds, including human speech. The male African gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is the most accomplished user of human speech in the animal world; this rain forest-dweller is an uncanny mimic.
Currently the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans the sale of any wild-caught species, yet the parrots' popularity continues to drive illegal trade.
Some parrot species are highly endangered. In other cases, once tame birds have reproduced in the wild and established thriving feral populations in foreign ecosystems. The monk (green) parakeet, for example, now lives in several U.S. states.
Bird Features
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Atlantic Puffin
Get to know this coastal bird with the colorful beak. Learn more about the amazing “sea parrot.”
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What's That Bird?
Identify your backyard visitors in a flash! Just answer four simple questions to search our database of 150 backyard birds common to Canada and the U.S.
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Pelican
Explore the pelican’s prodigious pouch. Find out how these famous fishers bring home the catch of the day.
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Bird Pictures
Get right up close to 12 colorful new bird galleries, featuring photos from My Shot members and classic art from the NG archives.
Animals
- Aardvark
- Adélie Penguin
- African Elephant
- African Lion
- African Wild Dog
- Albatross
- Alligator Snapping Turtle
- Amazon Horned Frog
- American Alligator
- American Bison
- American Bullfrog
- American Crocodile
- Ammonite
- Andean Condor
- Anglerfish
- Ankylosaurus Magniventris
- Ant
- Arabian (Dromedary) Camel
- Arctic Fox
- Arctic Hare
- Arctic Skua
- Armadillo
- Asian Elephant
- Asian Lion
- Atlantic Bluefin Tuna
- Atlantic Puffin
- Aye-Aye
- Baboon
- Bactrian Camel
- Bald Eagle
- Baltimore Oriole
- Beaver
- Beluga Whale
- Bengal Tiger
- Bird of Paradise
- Black Bear
- Black-Footed Ferret
- Black Mamba
- Black Rhinoceros
- Blacktip Shark
- Black Widow Spider
- Bluebird
- Blue Crab
- Blue-Footed Booby
- Blue Jay
- Blue Marlin
- Blue Whale
- Boa Constrictor
- Bobcat
- Bottlenose Dolphin
- Box Jellyfish
- Brachychampsa Montana
- Brown Bear
- Bull Shark
- Burmese Python
- Butterflyfish
- California Condor
- California Sea Lion
- Canada Goose
- Cane Toad
- Canvasback
- Caribou
- Carolina Wren
- Cheetah
- Chimpanzee
- Chipmunk
- Cicada
- Clouded Leopard
- Clown Anemonefish
- Coelacanth
- Common Earthworm
- Common Loon
- Common Octopus
- Common Sandpiper
- Common Vampire Bat
- Common Wombat
- Coral
- Cottontail Rabbit
- Coyote
- Cretoxyrhina Mantelli
- Cuban Screech Owl
- Cubera Snapper
- Deer Tick
- Devil Frog
- Dingo
- Dog Snapper
- Dolichorhynchops Osborni
- Domestic Cat
- Domestic Dog
- Draco Lizard
- Dugong
- Eastern Coral Snake
- Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
- Eastern Gray Kangaroo
- Egyptian Giant Solpugid (Camel Spider)
- Electric Eel
- Elephant Seal
- Elk
- Emperor Penguin
- Fennec Fox
- Firefly (Lightning Bug)
- Flying Fish
- Flying Snake
- Fossa
- Frilled Lizard
- Fur Seal
- Galápagos Tortoise
- Gelada
- Gentoo Penguin
- Geographic Cone Snail
- Giant Anteater
- Giant Clam
- Giant Pacific Octopus
- Giant Panda
- Giant River Otter
- Giant Squid
- Gibbon
- Gila Monster
- Giraffe
- Golden Cowrie
- Golden Eagle
- Golden Jellyfish
- Golden Lion Tamarin
- Golden Poison Dart Frog
- Gray Whale
- Great Blue Heron
- Great Egret
- Greater Flamingo
- Greater Rhea
- Great Horned Owl
- Great White Shark
- Green Anaconda
- Green Basilisk Lizard
- Green-Eyed Tree Frog
- Green Iguana
- Green Sea Turtle
- Grizzly Bear
- Groundhog
- Hammerhead Shark
- Harbor Porpoise
- Harp Seal
- Hawaiian Monk Seal
- Hawksbill Sea Turtle
- Hedgehog
- Henodus Chelyops
- Hesperornis Regalis
- Hippopotamus
- Honeybee
- Horned Toad (Short-Horned Lizard)
- Hornet
- Horse
- Howler Monkey
- Humpback Whale
- Impala
- Indian Rhinoceros
- Ivory-Billed Woodpecker
- Jackrabbit
- Jaguar
- Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle
- Killer Whale (Orca)
- King Cobra
- King Vulture
- Kinkajou
- Koala
- Komodo Dragon
- Krill
- Ladybug
- Laughing Kookaburra
- Leafy and Weedy Sea Dragon
- Leatherback Sea Turtle
- Leopard
- Leopard Seal
- Leptoceratops Gracilis
- Lesothosaurus Diagnosticus
- Lionfish
- Little Red Flying-Fox
- Llama
- Lobster
- Locust
- Loggerhead Sea Turtle
- Lynx
- Macaw
- Madagascar Hissing Cockroach
- Mallard Duck
- Manatee
- Mandrill
- Marine Iguana
- Matschie's Tree Kangaroo
- Meerkat
- Meller's Chameleon
- Mexican Axolotl
- Mola (Sunfish)
- Mole Rat
- Monarch Butterfly
- Mongoose
- Mononykus Olecranus
- Moose
- Mosquito
- Mountain Goat
- Mountain Gorilla
- Mountain Lion
- Mouse Lemur
- Mudpuppy
- Musk-Ox
- Narwhal
- Nile Crocodile
- North American River Otter
- Northern Leopard Frog
- Nudibranch
- Nurse Shark
- Nutria
- Ocelot
- Olive Ridley Sea Turtle
- Opossum
- Orangutan
- Oriental Fire-Bellied Toad
- Osprey
- Ostrich
- Oyster
- Ozark Big-Eared Bat
- Pachycephalosaurus Wyomingensis
- Parrot
- Parrot Fish
- Peacock
- Pelican
- Peregrine Falcon
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Platecarpus
- Platypus
- Poison Dart Frog
- Polar Bear
- Porcupine
- Portuguese Man-of-War
- Prairie Dog
- Praying Mantis
- Proboscis Monkey
- Pronghorn
- Protosphyraena
- Protostega Gigas
- Przewalski's Horse
- Pufferfish
- Queen Angelfish
- Quetzal
- Raccoon
- Rainbow Trout
- Raven
- Red Crab
- Red-Eyed Tree Frog
- Red-Footed Booby
- Red Fox
- Red Kangaroo
- Red Leaf Monkey
- Red Panda
- Red-Tailed Hawk
- Red Uakari
- Rhesus Monkey
- Right Whale
- Ringed Seal
- Ring-Necked Pheasant
- Ring-Tailed Lemur
- Rockhopper Penguin
- Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
- Ruby-Throated Hummingbird
- Sailfish
- Saltwater Crocodile
- Sandhill Crane
- Sand Tiger Shark
- Scarab
- Scorpion
- Sea Anemone
- Sea Cucumber
- Seahorse
- Sea Otter
- Siberian Tiger
- Sifaka
- Skunk
- Sloth Bear
- Snow Goose
- Snow Leopard
- Snowshoe Hare
- Snowy Owl
- Sockeye Salmon
- Spectacled Bear
- Sperm Whale
- Spider Monkey
- Spotted Hyena
- Spotted Salamander
- Spring Peeper
- Squirrel
- Starfish (Sea Star)
- Steller Sea Lion
- Steller's Sea Eagle
- Stick Insect
- Stingray
- Styxosaurus Snowii
- Sumatran Rhinoceros
- Sun Bear
- Tapir
- Tarantula
- Tasmanian Devil
- Thescelosaurus Neglectus
- Thick-Billed Murre
- Thomson's Gazelle
- Three-Toed Sloth
- Tiger Salamander
- Tiger Shark
- Toucan
- Triceratops Horridus
- Triggerfish
- Troodon Formosus
- Tundra Swan
- Tusotheuthis Longa
- Two-Toed Sloth
- Tylosaurus Proriger
- Tyrannosaurus Rex
- Velociraptor Mongoliensis
- Wallaby
- Wallace's Flying Frog
- Walrus
- Warthog
- Warty Newt
- Wasp
- Water Buffalo
- Web-Footed Gecko
- Weddell Seal
- Western Lowland Gorilla
- Whale Shark
- White-Eared Kob
- White Rhinoceros
- White-Tailed Deer
- Whooping Crane
- Wildebeest
- Wild Turkey
- Wolf
- Wolverine
- Wood Stork
- Xiphactinus Audax
- Zebra
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