This is a large group of birds, numbering more than 300 species. Parrots are so peculiar and well-isolated that they are isolated in a separate detachment of Parrots.
These birds can not be confused with any other. Their main distinctive external feature is the beak. It at parrots simultaneously big, but … short because it is strongly bent. The upper part of the beak (nadklavie) is especially massive, the lower part (the connecting part) is much smaller and has the shape of a bucket. Often the plug has a notch along the edge.
In addition, the jaws of the parrots move slightly in the horizontal plane, this makes their beak a universal manipulator tool. Above the beak is a wax – thickening with nostrils. The tongue is very thick, fleshy, in some species it resembles a ball, others can be split at the end and resembles a brush. The head of the parrots is of a rounded shape; in many species on the head there are ornaments in the form of a mobile tuft of various shapes. Neck short, wings of medium length, pointed.
The paws of these birds are also very unusual, there are only four fingers on them, two of them directed forward, and two backwards, besides they rotate in joints in different planes. This structure of the legs allows you to grasp the branches, hold on to vertical surfaces and hold all kinds of objects. The tail of these birds is of two types: either short with a blunt cut, or long and pointed.
For parrots is characterized by a very bright and multicolored color. Even those few species that are monochrome colored have small brightly colored plumage sites. Sexual dimorphism in parrots is poorly expressed – males and females are painted the same. A special exception is a noble parrot, whose difference in the color of the sexes is so great that before the males and females of this species were taken for different birds. The size of different species varies in a very wide range: the smallest species (wavy parrot) is slightly larger than the sparrow, and the largest (red macaw) reaches a length of 1 m!
Parrots are inhabited by Australia, Africa, South and Central America and South Asia. Numerous species of parrots have adapted to live in different landscapes – in moist tropical forests, dry eucalyptus groves, savannahs and even semi-deserts. Although these birds are also southern, some species tolerate a drop in temperature.
