Basic Parrot Information

If you are looking for information about parrots, you may be thinking of purchasing a pet for your home. Or your search for info about parrots may be due to already having purchased a bird.

Parrot information is scattered across the Internet, but you often have to look up a specific bird to get parrot information about the group in general.

The following is basic parrot information. It is intended to give you a simple understanding of the bird.

Define Parrot

The most basic parrot information you need is a definition of the word.

You might find parrot information that says a parrot has brightly colored feathers, but that is not always true. The African Grey is an example of one that does not.

You might come across parrot information that says parrots have the ability to mimic sounds, but to what extent – and what sounds. Your own parrot may do no mimicking whatsoever.

The best parrot information defines parrot this way:

A parrot is a bird in the order Psittaciformes, of either the Cacatuidae (cockatoo) family or the Psittacidae (true parrot) family. Every parrot has “zygodactyl” feet, meaning that two toes face forward and two toes face backward. All members of the order also have a characteristic curved beak shape. The order includes approximately 342 species, of which many but not all are brightly colored.

Some info on parrots eliminates the Cockatoos from the group, but most includes them.

Most Popular Parrot

Judging from the parrot information we have read, the most popular parrot by far is the Congo African Grey. This parrot has a charcoal gray head and body, but sports a bright red tail. The African Grey is known to be the most adept when it comes to mimicking human words. It also shows signs that it understands many words and can use them appropriately. As one source of parrot information put it, “This is not just a tape recorder.”

Acquiring a Pet Parrot

Some parrots are on the endangered species list, or are close to being placed on it. Other parrots are smuggled into the country by disreputable people. Legitimate parrot information advises that you should purchase a parrot from a reliable breeder rather than buying a bird that has been imported from the wild. Your pet will adapt better, and you will avoid risking legal difficulty for yourself.

Training a Parrot

Most people who seek parrot information have chosen this pet in hopes that it will talk and do tricks for them. They fail to realize that training a parrot can require far more patience than training a dog. They are unaware that parrots may decide not to talk, and may in fact bite rather than perform.

Bird Tricks has a lot of parrot information and help on training a parrot. We review Bird Tricks on this website so that you can know more about the company. To read our Bird Tricks review, click here or on the dark blue Bird Tricks button at the top of this page.

Helpful Tip

For more specific parrot information, including caging and care of parrots, please see other articles on this website.