Image description
The image shows a small bird, known for imitating the surrounding sounds and for its intelligence, with a curved body finished with an elongated tail, consisting of long feathers, with wide and short wings, a round head, a short and inside curved beak with a sharp tip and with two small and round eyes.
The body is balanced on two short legs ending in claws, which helps the bird climbing and hanging and holding its food.
The parrot in the image, viewed sideways, facing left, has the wing rendered by wavy texture, the eye highlighted by an embossed circle.
Also, the beak is represented by dotted texture, and the whole body is marked full in relief.
Additional information
Parrots are some of the most amazing bird species and are members of the order Psittaciformes. There are more than 350 bird species divided into over 80 genera.
Most of these birds live in tropical forests (areas with a very warm climate), although there are a few species that live in temperate areas (with 4 seasons). The greatest diversity of parrots is in Australia and South America.
The parrot is a medium or small bird, with dimensions varying between 9 cm (The buff-faced pygmy parrot) and 100 cm (The hyacinth macaw). It has a thick, strong and curved beak, a large rounded head, and feathers of a variety of colors – green, red, blue, white, gray or yellow.
The parrot has the first and fourth toes pointing backwards whereas the second and third toes point forward. Due to this position, he can climb, being able to catch different objects between claws.
The parrot is an omnivorous bird, which means it can eat both meat and vegetation. His diet consists of seeds, nuts, fruits, vegetables, buds and insects. It is the only bird that uses claws to eat.
Most parrots are social birds that often gather in flocks of 10 to 30 individuals, developing excellent communication skills. Most are mated to life, having only one partner. All species usually lay two to eight white eggs at one time, and they need 18 to 30 days of incubation.
Male birds can be easily distinguished from females: they are larger and more colorful than females that are rounder and pale in color.
Parrots are one of the most intelligent bird species. They can imitate human speech and other sounds, such as ambulance, car horns, crying children, sometimes even television. However, not all are the same, there are noisier, quieter parrots.
Some parrots talk to a four- or five-year-old. For example, the African gray parrot named Alex, manages to number up to 6, answer complex questions, can recognize 7 colors and identify 35 different objects, being considered the world’s smartest parrot.
A parrot’s lifespan is 75-80 years. Small parrots can live up to 10 years in captivity, while large parrots have very long lifespans up to 80 years.
In many countries, parrots are bought as pets. They need an enormous amount of attention: food, water, space, cleanliness and lots of company.
The most popular parrot species are: Ara, Kea, Cockatiel, Great Alexander, African Gray Parrot, Cockatoo, Budgerigar – the most common.
Kakapo is the world’s heaviest parrot, the only nocturnal parrot that does not fly.
Bibliography
- Curiosities about parrots, available online at https://bunadimineata.ro/de-dimineata/curiozitati-despre-papagali/, accessed December 16, 2019
- Parrot – interesting information and curiosities, available online at https://goki.ro/animale/papagalul_2931.html, accessed December 16, 2019.
- https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psittaciformes.
