Parrot Care Tips - What Makes a Parrot the Bird That it Is?

Parrot Care Tips - What Makes a Parrot the Bird That it Is?

Parrots have a number of obvious physical traits that makes it different from other birds. Bird lovers will understand and know many of these traits but for people who wish to become a parrot owner it is a good idea to understand these body features as they form some of the characteristics of the parrot. Knowing a parrot's features will make it much easier to give the bird care that it needs

Parrots belong to a family called Psittacidae, otherwise identified as climbing birds. Within this large, extended family are different branches, including the parrot proper as one branch is referred to, Macaws, Cockatoos, Lories, Paroquets or Parakeets depending on the spelling.

One endearing feature of a parrot is the way it moves its head and twists it around to look at different things. Sometimes they almost look like their heads will screw off their neck as they reach around and twitch the feathers behind them.

Each member of the parrot family has a tongue. But not just any tongue. It is soft, thick and fleshy and it's really quite mobile. Each member of the parrot family possesses a complex larynx that has three distinct muscles. And this not only helps to distinguish them as parrots but it allows them to "parrot" humans quite well.

Even though you may think that the tongue on these birds evolved specifically for mimicking sounds, nothing could be further from the truth. In the parrot, the tongue is actually one of the sense organs, much like it is for us. The parrot tastes, touches and swallows with this organ.

And, of course, each parrot has a beak and make no mistake about it, each parrot has a distinctive beak to call its own. Their beaks are large, thick, hard and fairly solid. The beak is also a very valuable tool which he uses in climbing, walking, and it even rests its body weight comfortably on its beak.

His eyes are placed on either side of his head. Because of this he cannot clearly see small objects which are held close to him without turning his head to one side. It's that little cock of his head that makes the parrot so delightfully cute - and at the same time gives him the appearance of great intelligence, when he seriously studies an object that is close to him.

The parrot's eyes are formed in a different way than ours. The upper and lower lids of his eyes are actually a continuous single lid, forming a rounded opening for the eyeball. If you ever really take a good, long look at a parrot, you'll notice that he seldom winks like you or I do. He really doesn't need to. Even though the upper portion of the lid is mobile, the bird possesses the power to contract his pupil at will, independent of the presence of light or dark.

He uses this power, most notably, when he's angry, fearful or struck by some other strong emotion. As the bird ages the color of his iris deepens.

The ears of a parrot are small, oval openings which are located right above their eyes. You can't see them very easily because they are covered in feathers, and they're placed beyond the border of the cere - or wrinkled skin. In some species of parrots, this area also includes the eye.

Generally these colorful birds have short wings but some varieties of the Macaw are the exception to this rule. They have long wings covered with long feathers.

The body of the bird itself is really quite bulky which presents a few problems, one of them presenting a physical difficulty in raising themselves from the ground when attempting their take off for flight. But once they're off the ground they fly gracefully and easily. If you have ever watched them in the wild, you'll see that some varieties simply rise from one branch to another, seldom flying long distances.

Parrot tail feathers differ widely in length, some short and stubby and on other parrots they are long and elegant. Usually there are 12 tail feathers on a parrot.

It's amazing that a bird that presents itself as being so graceful and so beautiful really has short, clumsy legs and with two toes that point forward and two that point backward, the average parrot looks a little awkward. But these toes are one of his most prized possessions. Their toes give them the ability to climb well, quickly and with ease. When he walks he has an odd swing to his body because of these short legs.

Another feature of the toes is that they are instrumental when the parrot eats. He uses them much like fingers. He holds his food firmly with the toes of one of his feet and places the food in his mouth. The second foot obviously, is then used to support him. The legs are muscular and are covered with strong scales. This helps him to hang on to a perch without much thought and very little effort. Aided by the strong hooked claws of the toes, sitting securely on a branch comes very naturally to this creature.

Knowing all about a parrot's features it will be easier to distinguish between a parrot and other bird species. Also some of their unusual habits, like eating with their feet won't take a new owner by surprise.