PARROTS (ABOUT)

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Parrots

Parrots can be subdivided into several groups: African parrots, with the most famous being the African Grey, amazons, whose sober green ground colour is usually combined with other magnificent colours, cockatoos, which almost all have a striking crest, macaws, very striking in appearance due to their size and their strong beak. The main feed for these birds is a well-balanced seed mix, adapted to the needs of these birds. In addition they like to eat nuts and they will not ignore the odd piece of fresh fruit or vegetables. The African grey parrot is probably the most famous of all parrots. Their ability to mimic and the fact that they are generally sociable talkers, is probably the reason for their popularity. Today this breed is usually hand-reared so that they make pleasant, ideal pet birds. Amazons are parrots from Middle and South America. They are predominately green birds, who have yellow, blue or red on their head depending on the type. They are very good at mimicking. Some types of this genus, like the blue front amazons and the yellow front amazons can be hand-reared well and will then grow into very tame, pleasant birds in the home. The Pionus parrots are closely related to the Amazons, come from the same regions and can also be calm, good-tempered pet birds. Cockatoos come from Australia and the surrounding islands. The main feature of the cockatoo is the crest, which they can raise at the appropriate time. The majority have predominantly white plumage, possibly combined with pale yellow or pink, like the various yellow crested cockatoos and the Moluc-cans. The few types of black cockatoos are very rare, which are usually only found in zoos and at specialised breeders. The size of the various types of cockatoos varies greatly: from 30 to 70 cm. The macaws can be divided into the smaller and larger macaws. They originate solely from South America. This group includes the largest type of parrot in the world: the hyacinth macaw, which can grow to 1 m in length. The smaller macaws are not as attractive in colour due to their predominantly green plumage. The magnificent colours of the larger macaws are all the more beautiful. Only hand-reared birds are suitable as pet birds, however they must be given sufficient space to move. Of the remaining other parrots the Eclectus are very loved amongst bird keepers. The female has more beautiful plumage than the male in these magnificent birds, the opposite of what is usually the case with birds. They can sometimes be a little too noisy. The various African parrots like the Jardine parrot and the Senegal parrot are also popular. Hawk-headed parrots, caiques, Cape parrots, kea's... are mainly kept by experts.