PARROTS
AVES
HABITAT
ORDER
FAMILY
GENUS & SPECIES
MACAWS
COCKATOO
AFRICAN GREY
Psittaciformes
Psittacidae
Ara
Psittaciformes
Psittacidae
Cacatua
Psittaciformes
Psittacidae
Psittacus
WOODLAND/
LOWLAND
DIET
FRUGIVORE
STATUS
2
ENDANGERED
FACTS & FIGURES
Size
Weight
Incubation period
Life span
Habitat
MACAWS
COCKATOO
AFRICAN GREY
30 - 100 cm
129 - 1695 g
25 - 27 days
50 - 60 years
Rainforest
30 - 70 cm
85 - 1000 g
28 - 30 days
50 - 60 years
Woodland
21 - 35 cm
275 - 650 g
22 - 29 days
40 - 50 years
Lowland
DESCRIPTION
Most parrots are brightly coloured and live
in flocks with some showing the ability to
copy and mimic different sounds.
Beautiful, charismatic and intelligent are just
a few words to describe these wonderful
members of the class Aves (birds).
There are over 350 species of parrot in the
world. They range in size from the tiny
Pigmy parrots roughly 8 cm in length to the
huge Hyacinth macaw which is over 100 cm
head to tail!
At Longleat we have 3 main types of parrot:
the loud and colourful macaws, the
cockatoos, and the little African greys.
Two obvious features help distinguish most
parrots from all other birds. One is the
arrangement of their toes - 2 point forward
and 2 point backwards.
The other is their hook shaped beak with
the top being bigger than the bottom.
DIET
The diet of most parrots consists of seeds,
fruit, vegetables, nuts, and berries. Some eat
nectar and pollen and to a lesser degree
animal prey including insects. The wild diet
varies greatly depending on where they
come from and what food is available.
The macaw diet is made up primarily from
the orange flesh of palm fruit, but will also
include various fruits and berries.
African greys feed primarily on nuts and
fruits, supplemented by leafy matter. The
cockatoo diet consists mainly of seeds, nuts
and fruit.
At Longleat we give our birds as much variety
as we can in relation to their wild diet. This
will consist mainly of fruit and nuts, but also
vegetables, seeds, and pulses (beans).
POINTS OF INTEREST
Parrot feet have an unusually strong grip.
Each foot has four long toes. Two of the toes
point forward and two point backward. This
arrangement makes it easy for parrots to grab
slippery seeds, nuts, or fruits and helps them
become experts at climbing; parrots can grab
a branch so tightly that they can hang upside
down if they want to. They can even stand on
one foot while they eat with the other!
Parrots sleep upright! Due to the strength
and arrangement of their toes, parrots can
‘lock’ their feet so they can nap without
falling off of their perch!
The parrot tongue is also very special.
Generally fleshy and highly mobile it takes
a very active role in manipulating the food.
This is a distinction from most other birds.
Bright colours work well as ‘signals’ to
other birds but movable crests are even
better! Cockatoos can tell a great deal about
other cockatoos moods, by the angle and
speed that it raises its crest.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHY DON’T THEY FLY AWAY?
They do sometimes! When we first get a
parrot we spend lots of time getting to know
them, building up their confidence and
gaining their trust.
We initially clip their flight feathers as a
precaution while they get used to us and
their new surroundings but can then leave
them to grow back and through time and
training they learn where home is and tend
to stay.
DO THEY TALK?
No, parrots cannot talk, but they are
excellent mimics. All parrots have advanced
vocal boxes, and all parrots can copy, but at
a basic level they don’t understand what
they are saying, they are just copying.
In the wild mimicry is used for social
reasons as parrots are social creatures and
they will copy each others movements and
sounds as a way of showing off and
interacting with each other. When kept as
pets parrots copy us as we are their social
companions.
WHERE DO THEY GO AT NIGHT?
Our parrots don’t stay out all night; they go
into a parrot house. They are creatures of
routine and habit and they need security, as
in the wild they get used to a safe routine.
HOW OLD ARE THEY? HOW LONG DO
THEY LIVE?
All of our parrots ages vary, some are in there
teens and some are over twenty years old.
Parrots are very long lived animals with
even the smaller ones such as budgies living
to 20 years, macaws and cockatoos can
possibly live to 70 and beyond.
WERE THEY BORN HERE?
© Longleat
No, most of our parrots are unwanted pets. A
lot of people take parrots on and don’t realise
how much is involved with keeping them.
HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE TO TRAIN
THEM?
It depends on the parrot. Like us they learn
differently and everything has to be done at
their pace, some parrots take days to learn a
particular stunt while some others can take
weeks. Our key tips for training are:
Patience, Reward, Patience, Planning,
Patience, Persistence, and of course more
Patience.
HOW MUCH DO THEY COST?
We don’t sell our parrots. The time, patience
and bond formed with our birds makes
them priceless! Rather like members of our
own family. Occasionally we move birds to
other collections for breeding purposes, but
we don’t always recommend them as pets.
However if you were to decide to buy a
parrot, the cost will depend on many factors,
do not forget long term costs such as food,
vet bills, and repair costs! Damage will
occur both to their home and yours.
CAN I STROKE ONE?
Most parrots don’t like being stroked,
because they spend so much time getting
their feathers just how they want them, its
like us combing our hair for half an hour
and somebody messing it up.
ARE THEY ALWAYS NOISY?
Yes! Parrots are naturally very noisy animals,
even the smallest one being able to create a
loud noise. In the wild parrots need to call
to their companions over great distances,
also when in a large flock they have to shout
loud to be heard over all the others!
SHOULD I BUY A PARROT?
HAVE YOU GOT THE TIME?
Parrots are very social creatures that need a
lot of time and attention. Scientists believe
that a parrot has a similar intelligence to that
of a four year old child. They require
interaction and company, if you or your
family are out all day at work, school or
away lots, a parrot left alone could get
bored, lonely, and very unhappy. Have you
got the time to commit to the equivalent of a
four year old child for the next 30+ years?
CAN YOU AFFORD IT?
Depending on the species and where you
get it from, the initial cost of a parrot can be
quite high. However as with other pets, the
cost is on-going and includes, enclosures,
food, housing materials, toys, books, and vet
bills, it has been estimated that it can cost as
much as £50,000 to keep a parrot throughout
its lifetime.
DO YOU HAVE THE SPACE?
Regardless of the size of the parrot, all
parrots need space to stretch and move
around. When kept in a cage, you need to
consider at least enough space for them to
open their wings, turn around, and sit
upright with plenty of space above their
head. Obviously the more time out of the
cage the better and ideally in a spacious area
especially set up for the parrot is the best
situation. Most parrots love to climb and we
offer our birds access to a large natural wood
climbing frame daily or whenever the
weather allows us to do so.
HAVE YOU GOT THE COMMITMENT?
© Longleat
A lot of people rush in to buying animals
without thinking of the long term
commitments, do you know what you are
going to be doing in a year, 2 years, 5 years,
10 years, 20 years or even beyond that?
Most large parrots such as macaws and
cockatoos can live for at least 60 years, with
some of the smaller ones, budgies and
cockatiels making 20. Think carefully about
the future, can you and your family provide
the care and commitment needed to keep a
parrot happy for a long, long time.
DO YOU MIND NOISE?
Parrots are notorious for the noise they can
make. This is a very natural part of their life
and something that should be accepted
when thinking of getting a parrot. Larger
parrots are usually louder than the smaller
ones with some species reaching 120db.
Sometimes the noise can be avoided and
with time and correct training reduced, but
there are times when they will just be noisy
and all you can do is put on ear muffs and
ignore it!
DO YOUR NEIGHBOURS MIND NOISE?
You may have decided that the noise of a
squawky parrot is something you can live
with, but have you considered your
neighbours? Or even their neighbours! They
may not appreciate being awoken by a loud
screech first thing in the morning! Consider
where you live and who is near your house
ARE YOU HOUSE PROUD?
If you decide to keep a parrot within your
house at any time, be aware that they are
naturally very destructive animals that can
very quickly make a lot of mess! They love
to chew things, in the wild they would
chew a nice barky branch; it keeps their
beaks trim and they enjoy doing it. In your
house this could quite easily be a sofa, or an
expensive piece of furniture. Consider
where your parrot could live within your
house, you may be able to build an aviary in
your garden and connect it to an indoor area,
or you may have a room you can set aside
for the parrot.
WORLD
DISTRIBUTION
Parrots can be found in most tropical parts
of the world. The Americas, Africa, South
East Asia & Australasia are all good parrot
hot spots.
Macaws are found in Central and South
America – Panama down to Bolivia, Brazil
and Paraguay. Military macaws used to have
a larger range and could be found from
Mexico down to Bolivia and Argentina, but
are now scarce.
African greys are found in central Africa –
Southeast Ivory Coast east to western Kenya
and south to northern Angola, southern Congo
and northwest Tanzania. Timneh African greys
are found in Southern Guinea, Sierra Leone,
Liberia and westernmost Ivory Coast.
Most cockatoos including the Sulphur Crested
are from Australasia and the Moluccan
cockatoos are from islands in Indonesia.
CONSERVATION
Nearly a third of all parrots are endangered
and facing extinction. They have many threats
including natural and introduced predators.
They are captured for food and the pet trade
but perhaps their biggest threat is the loss of
their habitat through deforestation.
© Longleat
Deforestation is destroying food sources for
many species of parrot. Most parrots will
forage over a wide area and with fewer
available food trees, resources soon run out.
Palm nuts are one of the main food sources
for Macaws and one of the reasons for their
decline is due to lack of this natural food.
Replanting
schemes
have
been
implemented and can replace food in a
relatively short space of time.
The major problem for most large parrots is
lack of trees to nest in. It would take many
years for a tree to grow large enough and
decay enough inside for a hollow to be
created which would be large enough for a
pair of macaws to nest in. Nest boxing
projects are in place where large artificial
nest boxes are raised high into the canopy
and secured to trees that are not yet mature
to provide nest sites on their own.
Much deforestation is due to demand for
wood and paper. We can make a difference
by recycling our paper and cardboard, and
by looking out for products that use recycled
materials.
Also when buying wood we can look out for
wood that comes from sustainable forests
and woodlands.