7 Interesting Parrots

1. Kakapo - The rare nocturnal Kakapo or otherwise know as the owl parrot lives in new Zealand and is possibly the strangest parrot in the world. They are the heaviest parrot at about a weight of 3.5 KG or 7 to 9 pounds. They are the only parrot that cannot fly, only using their wings for balance. Sadly these birds are critically endangered, they are hunted by invasive species such as cats. There are only about 100 left in the wild. Kakapos have a high sexual maturity and reproduce infrequently making it harder to bring their population back. They are known to live quite long though, about 100 years on average. 

2. Kea - Keas, like the Kakapo, live in New Zealand. They are known for being extremely intelligent, using tools to solve puzzles and such. They are as intelligent or more intelligent than a crow. They are also the only alpine parrots, and the only parrot known to eat meat. These birds love to play with each other. They play with each other and are known to even laugh. they are related to the Kaka. 

    

3. Pesquet's Parrot - These parrots are called Dracula's parrot and Devils parrot as well, a complete misnomer. These are fairly docile parrots and they only have bare head since most of their diet consists of figs. They live in New Guinea and they are endangered from hunting, indigenous people hunt them for feathers and eat them.  

4. African grey parrot - African grey parrots may not look too special but they are. There are two species, Congo African greys and Timeh African greys. They are some of the most intelligent parrots/birds and the best at learning words. These birds even know what they are saying most of the time. For example, African grey once called cake sweet bread when they did not know what it was. Alex the african grey knew the meaning of about 100 English words and could count. He could even apologize! 

5. Hawk headed parrot - These are South American birds with peculiar feathers. They are fairly closely related to Conures and Caiques. 

 

6. Hyacinth Macaw - This is the biggest of all parrots. They live in South American and are related to Lear's macaws and the probably extinct Glaucous Macaw. They can be more than a meter long. They have strong bites as well, they can have 1000 psi, for comparison humans have about 162 psi, and lions have 650 psi. Hyacinth macaws can crack coconuts with that beak, some also bend iron bars of their cage. 

7. Pygmy Parrots - Unlike the Hyacinth macaw, these parrots are small, the smallest in the world. They are only about 5 to 8 centimetres long. That's as small as a hummingbird!