Parrot facts

• The average lifespan of the longest-lived parrot, the scarlet macaw, is around 35 years, but some exceptional individual parrots live into their 70s, 80s, or even 100s.¹ Parrots with bigger brains live longer, suggesting that intelligence may be behind their longevity.²
• Parrots use their beaks as well as their two hindlimbs to walk along the branches of trees, making them tripedal.³
• Not all parrots live in tropical climates. The maroon-fronted parrot, a macaw-like bird, lives at elevations of 2,000–3,500m in the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountain range in north-eastern Mexico.⁴
• One famous African grey parrot called Alex managed to learn a vocabulary of more than 150 different words. Scientists working with Alex argued that he wasn’t just mindlessly ‘parroting’ the words; he understood their meaning.⁵
• Recent research even shows that before they fly the nest, baby parrots start to babble and string together nonsense sounds just like human babies do, seemingly as a precursor to talking.⁶

There are three superfamilies of parrots, which between them host almost 400 species of birds.⁷ The Psittacoidea superfamily, also known as “true” parrots, includes the macaws, parakeets, lorikeets and budgerigars. Meanwhile the Cacatuoidea superfamily consists of the cockatoos and cockatiels. Finally, the Strigopoidea superfamily consists of parrots native to New Zealand, including the kea, kākā, and kākāpō.

Parrot species can vary hugely in size. The hyacinth macaw, native to Brazil, eastern Bolivia and north-eastern Paraguay, is 100 times the weight of the buff-faced pygmy parrot, the world’s smallest parrot, which weighs just 11.5g and lives on the island of Papua New Guinea. The adult yellow-capped pygmy parrot (Micropsitta keiensis), similarly weighs just 12g, while the kakapo (Strigops habroptilus), averages 3kg.⁸

Though there are many species of parrots, with each species differing in colour, shape and size, all parrots have a few traits in common. For example, to be classed as a parrot, the bird must have a curved beak, and be zygodactyl, which means having four toes on each foot, with two toes pointing forward and two pointing backward. This configuration allows parrots to easily manipulate objects and move around from tree to tree.

Parrots are tripedal, which means they use three points of contact to move: their two hindlimbs, plus their beaks. A 2022 study found that parrots use tripedal locomotion during climbing, with the beak functioning both as a stabilising hook, and as a propulsive limb in its own right.⁹

Parrots usually prefer warmer climates, and so tend to live in tropical and subtropical regions of the Earth. Australasia, Central America, and South America are home to the greatest diversity and number of parrot species.¹⁰

For example, the scarlet macaw can be found in rainforests in southern Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, eastern Brazil and the island of Trinidad. Budgies, also known as budgerigars or parakeets, meanwhile, are native to Australia and live in open grasslands and scrubland.

However, there are some exceptions to the rule. The maroon-fronted parrot, a macaw-like bird, makes its home in the pine and mixed conifer forests of the Sierra Madre Oriental Mountain range in north-eastern Mexico.¹¹ At elevations of 2,000–3,500 meters, the bird is used to cold weather, although it migrates south in the winter. The endangered thick-billed parrot, or snow parrot, can also be found in Mexico’s Sierra Madre Occidental Mountains.¹² It is acclimatised to cold climates and is even known to forage in snow-covered trees and eat snow as a water source. Finally, the New Zealand kea also thrives in temperate climates, living as it does in the alpine and mountainous areas of New Zealand’s South Island.¹³

As a rule, the larger the animal, the longer its lifespan.¹⁴ However, parrots completely buck this trend. Despite being small, a pet budgerigar in captivity has an average life expectancy of 15 to 25 years or longer.¹⁵ Sulphur-crested cockatoos can live up to 70 to 80 years in exceptional cases, even though they only weigh 700 to 1,000g [1.5 to 2.2lb].¹⁶

It’s known that birds tend to live longer than mammals of the same size, probably because they can fly and escape predators. However, even taking this into account, parrots live longer than other similar-sized bird species. For example, the American robin (Turdus migratorius), lives about two years on average, while the rosy-faced lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis) parrot, has an average lifespan of eight years, despite being considerably smaller.¹⁷

It is not unheard of for a captive parrot to live into its 70s and 80s, and there are even reports of parrots living longer than this. Famous elderly parrots include Cookie, a cockatoo who was at least 82 years when he died, and Cocky Bennett, a cockatoo from Sydney, Australia, who reportedly lived to be 120 years old. ¹⁸

However, these are exceptional cases, and the average life expectancy of parrots is much lower. A 2022 study analysed data from more than 130,000 individual parrots in more than 1,000 zoos worldwide.¹⁹ The researchers used the data to calculate the average lifespans of 217 parrot species. The findings revealed great diversity in parrot life expectancy, ranging from an average of two years for the fig parrot, up to an average of around 35 years for the scarlet macaw. Other long-lived species include the sulphur-crested cockatoo from Australia, which lives 25 years, on average. 

Parrots live far longer than would be expected based on their body size, but the reason behind this longevity is not fully understood. One 2022 study calculated the average lifespans of 217 parrot species and found that parrot longevity was linked to brain size, with birds with larger brains having a greater life expectancy overall.²⁰ Parrots are very intelligent birds, with brain-to-body size ratios on par with those seen in primates. The study suggests that parrots' superior cognitive abilities may help them adapt to environmental variability and avoid predators, allowing for longer lifespans. However, it’s also possible that living a long life has enabled parrots to develop enhanced intelligence, as a long lifespan provides the time required to learn and accumulate complex skills.

The answer could also lie in parrots' genes. In 2018, researchers at the Oregon Health & Science University compared the genome of the blue-fronted Amazon parrot with that of 30 other birds.²¹ They found 344 genes associated with extended lifespan in the parrot. The genes appear to help repair broken DNA, slow down stress-induced cell death, and prevent cells from becoming cancerous.

More than 90% of bird species are socially monogamous, which means that they work together with their partner to raise chicks.²² However, such birds are not always sexually monogamous. Many studies analysing the DNA of offspring have found that supposedly monogamous birds frequently sneak off to have extra marital affairs with other birds.²³

Take the greater vasa parrot, Coracopsis vasa, for example, which is native to Madagascar and other islands in the Western Indian Ocean. Female vasa parrots are extremely promiscuous, and studies show that they copulate with multiple males. One study which analysed the DNA of 17 broods showed that all were of mixed paternity, and that some broods had three fathers.²⁴

However, the few studies that have been carried out to date suggest that at least some parrots are truly monogamous and spend their entire lives with just one mate, working together to raise their young.²⁵ Examples of truly monogamous parrots include the burrowing parrot Cyanoliseus patagonus the Blue and Yellow macaw, and Green-winged macaw.²⁶

Most parrots eat a diet consisting of nuts, fruit, buds, seeds and insects. They have strong jaws that allow them to break open nutshells to get to the seed inside. 

However one exception is the Kea, native to New Zealand, which has developed a liking for fresh meat. Kea use their long sharp beaks and claws to dig insects out of the ground, and they scavenge flesh from carcasses. When sheep farming became established in New Zealand, kea garnered a gruesome reputation for cutting through the backs of live sheep to reach the fat around their livers.²⁷

Parrots are among the world’s most intelligent birds and use a complex repertoire of vocal sounds to communicate with one another. Parrots learn this language by mimicking other members of their flock. As a result of this ability to mimic, parrots can imitate almost any sound, including human speech.

Unlike humans, they don’t have lips or vocal cords. Instead, they produce sound using their syrinx - a hollow, Y-shaped structure found only in birds, that sits at the base of the windpipe.²⁸ As the parrot breathes, air passes through the syrinx, causing it to vibrate and produce a noise. The noise is then modified by a series of muscles and bony rings located on the outside of the syrinx, before passing through the parrot's throat and mouth. Parrots also have large tongues which they can use to make human speech sounds. They change the position and shape of the tongue, moving it back and forth in their mouth to create vowel sounds in a similar way to humans.²⁹

Parrots that are known for their talking abilities include the African grey, Derbyan parakeet, Indian rose-ringed parakeet, and budgerigar. According to a 2022 study, African grey parrots can repeat up to 600 different words.³⁰According to reports, one famous African grey parrot called Alex managed to learn a vocabulary of more than 150 different words.³¹ Scientists working with Alex argued that he wasn’t just mindlessly ‘parroting’ the words; he understood their meaning.

Recent research even shows that before they fly the nest, baby parrots start to babble and string together nonsense sounds, just like human babies do, seemingly as a precursor to talking.³²

Parrots are fiercely intelligent animals. Many studies have shown that parrots demonstrate sophisticated problem-solving abilities.³³ For example, they can use tools and work as a team to access food rewards.³⁴ Hyacinth macaws, for example, use sticks to prise open nuts. Black palm cockatoos, on the other hand, are known to use twigs to drum on tree trunks to attract the attention of females.

Irene Pepperberg, an American scientist noted for her research in animal cognition, has conducted studies on African grey parrots for over 30 years. According to Pepperberg, her most famous subject, Alex, exhibited cognitive capacities comparable to those of marine mammals, apes and even 4–6-year-old children.³⁵ For example, Alex could count, add and subtract, and even understand the concept of zero.³⁶

Pepperberg also reported that, before he died, Alex knew the words for 50 different objects, seven colours, five shapes and quantities up to and including six.³⁷ He combined these labels to identify, request, refuse, categorise and quantify about 100 different objects. He could reportedly use phrases such as “Come here”, “I want X” and “Wanna go Y” correctly. Studies have also shown that parrots are capable of making complex economic decisions, performing as well as chimpanzees.³⁸ For example they will choose to forego a tasy treat in the present if it means getting a higher value reward in the future.

An area of the brain that plays a major role in mammalian intelligence is called the pontine nuclei. This structure, which is large in humans and primates compared to other mammals, transfers information between the two largest areas of the brain, the cortex and cerebellum. This allows for higher-order processing and more sophisticated behaviour. However, a 2018 study analysed the brains of 98 birds, and found that birds have very small pontine nuclei.³⁹ Instead, they appear to use a similar structure called the medial spiriform nucleus (SpM) to perform the same function. The study found that parrots have a SpM that is much larger than that of other birds.

Interestingly, similar genetic changes that allowed our human ancestors to develop large brains may have occurred in parrots. A study compared the genome of the blue-fronted Amazon parrot with that of 30 other birds.⁴⁰ It found that regions of the parrot genome that act as master switches, controlling when and how genes for brain development are turned on, are very similar to those found in humans. These regulatory parts of the genome essentially cause more brain cells to be built during development, leading to bigger brains.

The kea, a parrot native to New Zealand, has long been known to engage in playful behaviour, especially when young. A 2018 study also revealed that wild keas spontaneously burst into joyful, laughter-like behaviour when they hear a certain warbling call.⁴¹

During the study, researchers played 5-minute recordings of different bird calls to wild keas on a mountainside of New Zealand’s Arthur’s Pass National Park. When played the unique warbler sound, the parrots started to play, chasing one another in aerobatic loops, exchanging foot-kicking high fives in mid-air, and hurling objects to each other. When the recording stopped, the birds went back to whatever they had been doing before. According to the authors, the behaviour is similar to infectious laughter in humans.

Featured image © Lacie Slezak  | Unsplash

Fun fact image ©  Danika Perkinson | Unsplash

Quick Facts:

1. Source https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/current-protected-areas-not-enough-to-save-parrots-from-extinction-study/

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