Birds and Birding's Guide to:

Watching THE CUCKOO-LIKE BIRDS

THE PARROTS

Parrot Description

Although perhaps hardly necessary, it may be advisable to briefly set forth the principal characters of Parrots. They are birds of varying size with a rather compact body, relatively short neck and large head, and may be known at once by the permanently zygodactyl feet, the first and fourth toes being directed backward, and the short, extremely stout, strongly hooked bill, which is provided at the base with a cere, as in the birds of prey.

The cere, however, is frequently feathered, which it very rarely is in the latter group. The legs are in general very short and the feet covered with granular scales, while the oil-gland when present is tufted. There are a number of other important characters, such as the articulation of the upper mandible to the skull by means of a transverse hinge, which permits of considerable motion, and a thick, fleshy, often bushy or fringed tongue, while in all but a single genus the tail is composed of twelve feathers.

With the exception of the curious Owl-Parrot (Stringops), the Parrots are mainly arboreal, climbing about among the branches and trunks, in which office they make considerable use of the hooked bill, as well as the distinctively climbing feet. They are usually brilliant in coloration, showing much of green, yellow, and red, with occasionally brown and black, and lay white eggs, which are deposited in holes, usually in trees but sometimes in banks, ants' nests, etc. The period of incubation is approximately twenty-one days, the males assisting to some extent, and the young are born helpless, being fed for some time by the regurgitation of partially digested food from the crops of the parents.

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