Parrots are brightly coloured, tropical birds with short, strong bills. The parrot family includes parrots, macaws, lories, lorikeets, parakeets, cockatoos and budgerigars. Parrots feed on fruits, nuts and seeds, picking them up with their nimble toes. They can crack even the hardest nuts in their powerful beaks. Parrots also use their beaks, along with their claws, to help them clamber among the treetops. Along with members of the crow family, parrots are the most intelligent of birds, often able to imitate human voices.

Macaws

Macaws are long-tailed, colourful parrots from Central and South America. Including their tail feathers, macaws may measure up to one metre (more than 3 feet) in length. They make loud, low-pitched squawks as they fly. Macaws eat a wide variety of foods, including seeds, nuts, fruits, leaves and flowers. In the Amazon rainforest, hundreds of macaws and other parrots gather each day to lick the clay, which contains vital salts, on river banks. Macaws nest in holes high up in tree trunks. Some species, such as the hyacinth macaws, are endangered birds. Much prized as pets, many are captured for sale.

Cockatoo

Cockatoos have feathered crests which they can raise and lower as a form of communication. They often mate for life.

​​​​​​​Male palm cockatoos employ a particularly clever technique to attract a female. The male makes a drumstick from a small twig, which he trims to just the right shape. He then clasps it in his foot and beats it against the trunk of a hollowed nesting tree, creating a loud noise that can be heard up to 100 metres (more than 300 feet) away. The female watches the male’s performance carefully. If she is interested, she will inspect the nest, give her approval and fly off with her new mate.

Rose-ringed parakeet

The rose-ringed parakeet, also known as the ring-necked parakeet, is a tropical African-Asian species. It has a noisy, squawking call—although it also has the ability to mimic human speech. In the wild it feeds on buds, fruits, nuts, berries and seeds. Large flocks can cause extensive damage to farmland and orchards. A popular pet, escaped birds have colonized cities in Europe, South Africa and Japan. With few predators and food available from suburban gardens and bird feeders, the parakeets are adapting well to their new habitats. Accustomed to cold winters in the Himalayan foothills, they are easily able to withstand European winter conditions.