Where Do Parrots Live?

Many parrots live as pets. Parrots are beautiful and talented birds. They can do tricks and even talk back to you. They are capable of acquiring an extensive vocabulary. There voices can even sound human. Their ability to mimic sounds is uncanny and they seem able to put sentences together to hold a conversation. 

Parrots nest in holes in trees, rock cavities, ground holes, and even termite mounds. They are very sociable birds and tend to build their nests in close proximity to others. The parrots live in highly forested areas in tropical climates. Some survive and inhabit savannahs, grassy lands, lightly treed and amazing as it may seem some live in deserts.

The vast majority live in rainforests or highly forested sections of every continent in the world except Europe and Antarctica, so the answer to where do parrots live is, almost anywhere. Their primary climate is tropical and mostly below the Equator.

Even though they prefer a tropical climate some pet birds have escaped in many cities and have been found to thrive, especially in the southern California region. It would not be odd to look up into the sky when visiting a climate that is sub-tropical and spot a flock of parrots in the trees.

What Is a Parrot?

The name parrot is used for a class of birds that have certain characteristics. The classification of parrot includes macaws, lories, cockatiels, cockatoos, lovebirds, parakeets, keas, and budgies.

All parrots have hooked bills, though the shape of the bill may be different based on what type of food they eat.

• Some eat nuts and require a hard and sharp beak that can break through the shell of the nuts to dig out the meat.
• Other parrots eat only nectar and their beaks are long and thin, allowing their tongues to dip into flowers to suck out the nectar. Their tongues appear to have brushes on the end of them to better collect the nectar.
• Some even have bills that look like shovels because their primary food is the root of plants.

Parrot Feet

Zygodactyolus feet ia another characteristic all parrots share. This means that they have two toes that point to the front and two pointing to the back. All other birds have three toes pointed forwards and one pointed to the back. The advantage of this configuration is that their feet can grip branches in a more secure fashion, even allowing them to hang upside down.

Their feet are also very dexterous. They can use their toes to grip and hold their food and bring it up to their mouths to eat. They can work the food around to break nuts open or to tear away the outer covering of fruits. Their beaks and toes are used to move back and forth through the branches of trees.

Parrot Coloration

The coloration of their feathers are striking in appearance and, combined with their body shape, can mimic leaves on a tree, blossoms or fruit. This is used to protect them from predators by allowing them to blend in with the natural structure of the tree in which they land. Large groups of parrots can land on the branches of a dead tree and make it appear to be alive with leaves, flowers and fruit.

Parrot Sizes

The sizes of parrots range from the pygmy parrot, which is only about 4 inches long to the macaws that grow to over 40 inches in length. Their feathers have colors that span the rainbow. They can be red, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, grey, brown and black, but most parrots are green. Three hundred and twenty-eight different species of parrots live around the world at various locations. Their typical life span is anywhere from 10 to 15 years for small parrots to as long as 75 years for the large macaws.