Fun Parrot Facts

Parrots are smart, entertaining, and beautiful. When my daughter first said I'd make a good bird owner, I didn't think so. I thought parrots were like fish, pretty to look at in their enclosure. I didn't realize they each have a distinct personality, and how much they interact with the rest of the household. When I re-homed a pair of cockatiels over 20 years ago, it changed my life. I've been a bird owner ever since.

Facts about parrots are abundant, but I thought I'd share these fun parrot facts to add to the trivia in your life:

• Heaviest Parrots: The heaviest parrots are the nocturnal, flightless Kakapo which weight about 7 pounds. These birds are rare and endangered and can be found in New Zealand and are also known as Owl Parrots or Night Parrots.
• Smallest Parrot: Pygmy parrots are the smallest parrot at around 3" long.
• Largest Flying Parrot: While the Kakapo is the heaviest parrot, the Hyacinthine Macaw is the largest flyingparrot species.

• Best Talker: Many parrots can talk, but the African Grey Parrot's talking ability is at the top of the chart. Their repertoire can include a number of lines from songs, poems and other longer works, and they can mimic the voices of the people in their lives. I knew one African Gray owner whose parrot would call her in her husband's voice only to find it was the bird. She couldn't tell the difference!
• No Vocal Cords: While parrots are known for talking, they don't have vocal cords! Words and sounds are created by pushing air from their trachea.
• Heard a Mile Away: In the wild, parrot vocalization can be heard from as far as a mile away.
• Loudest Parrot: The Moluccan Cockatoo is the loudest parrot and can reach 135 decibels.

• Parrots can be potty trained: Choose your words wisely when training, so when your parrot repeats the training phrase in public you won't be embarrassed. My Blue-front Amazon says, "Got to go potty."
• Parrots in History: Famous people owned parrots including historical figures like: Winston Churchill and President Andrew Jackson. When President Jackson passed away and the body was waked in his home, the parrot had to be removed from the room because it cussed up a storm! Churchill owned three parrots including an African Gray, Blue and Gold Macaw and a Budgie. Other famous bird owners include: King Henry VIII, Ulysses S. Grant, George Washington, William McKinley, and Calvin Coolidge.
• Parrot Hieroglyphics: Keeping parrots as pets isn't new. Egyptian hieroglyphics depict parrots as pets to royal families 4000 years ago.
• Parrot Eyesight: Parrots can see ultraviolet light, while humans cannot.
• Intelligence: Parrots do more than mimic. Many breeds can make associations between numbers, colors, sizes, shapes, etc.
• Quaker Parrot Nests: Quaker parrots are only about 11 inches long and weight about a quarter pound but you'd never know it by the nests they construct in the wild. These nests can house more than 40 birds and weight above 200 pounds.
• Stick Nests: The only parrots that build stick nests are Lovebirds and Quaker Parrots.
• Sleeping: Most parrots sleep standing on one foot.

While these fun facts are unique and interesting, there's nothing like gathering fun facts about personal companion parrots. Talk to any bird owner and you'll see what I mean. For instance, my Blue-front, Neelix, says good-bye each time I leave the house, and if I disappear into another room for too long he'll call, "Hello! Hello!" and when I show myself, he'll say, "There you are!" However, if I just peek around the corner and he sees me, he says peek-a-boo and expects to play. These are just a few of the fun facts I've got to share. How about you?