"Klyde"
African Ringneck Parakeet
"Klyde"
African Ringneck Parakeet
In common usage, parrot signifies any bird in the more than 300 species of the order Psittaciformes. Parrots are easily distinguished by their short, curved beaks; large heads; short necks and feet; having zygodactylus feet, two toes that point foward and two toes that point backwards, which aid in grasping seeds and climbing, along with the beak. Most are fruit and seed eaters, with well-developed crops to soften food. Parrots also have a fleshy and often feathered projection, called a cere, at the base of the upper bill. They have long been favorite cage birds and are among the oldest domesticated animals. All parrots have loud and often raucous calls, and some species such as our ringneck Klyde, are especially noted for imitating sounds that they hear. Parrots are intelligent and gregarious animals, and in isolation they mimic their human keepers as a form of social behavior and simply to occupy time. High intelligence is particularly noted in climbers such as the gray parrot. The order Psittaciformes is usually classified into three families. Lories and lorikeets form the family Loridae, and cockatoos the family Cacatuidae. All other kinds are grouped in the family Psittacidae, including the true parrots, macaws, parakeets, budgerigars, conures, lovebirds, owl parrots and pygmy parrots.
Other than sharing certain characteristics of bill and beak, parrots vary greatly in appearance. They range in size from the 10-cm (4-in) pygmy parrots of New Guinea to the 1-m (3.3-ft) hyacinth macaw, of Brazil, much of whose length is an elaborate tail. Many parrots are brightly colored in reds, yellows, and blues, but the most common color is green, which serves as camouflage. Some species are dull in appearance or even black.
The order worldwide has a southern distribution. Most species are found in South America, with many fewer farther north and in Africa and India. Nearly all the northern species are in the tropical lowlands, with a few in the Himalayas and the mountains of Mexico. The most unusual genera inhabit New Zealand, Australia, and New Guinea. African ringnecks are found in W. Africa, Guinea, SAenegal, Mauritania, Uganda, near the White Nile in Sudan, whith some subspecies being found in ethiopia. Though they are abundant in theirnative countried, there are not many American captive breeders for these species.
Parrots also vary in habits. They are primarily forest dwellers of tropical zones around the world.They often gather in flocks, within which they are commonly in pairs, and they may form roosting groups at night. Some species are diurnal or daytime birds that live in trees, while others are nocturnal and remain mostly on the ground.
Parrot have strongly hooked beaks for eating fruit, seeds, buds, nectar, and pollen. Occasionally insects or other meat will be eaten.
The sexes have similar plumage in most American and African parrots, but often differ in species of Asian and Pacific areas. An extreme difference is found in Electus roratus; the male is green and red and the female green, with or without blue. In the ringneck parakeet, adults are sexually dimorphic with sexually mature adult males developing a "nuchal collar" or dark ring around their neck, highlighted in pale red and blue at eighteen months to three years old.
Nearly all parrot species are monogamous, commonly mating for years if not for life. They often breed in cavities or nests in hollow trees. The brooding is usually unshared and lasts for 18 to 20 days. Many species lay from 4 to 8 relatively small, plain white eggs. The young develop slowly, and are altricial. African ringecks have African breeding seasons from August to November and in cpativity in the US breen Janiaru through April. They are slightly different than most parrots in that the female produced two to four eggs whose three to four week incubation is shared by both male and female.
In captivity some members of the larger species have lived to an age of 70 or 80 years and many captive birds outlive their owners. African ringnecks have a lifespan of about 15 years.
The parrot plays an important role in its habitat by helping to propagate the forest. Because not all of the seeds consumed are digested, many are passed in the bird's guano over new areas of the forest. Some species eat nectar and are important in the pollination of many species of plants in the tropical forests.
Because parrots tend to gather in flocks, and because they sometimes feed on farm products, some populations of the birds have been destroyed by overhunting. Other species re being decimated through encroachments on their habitat by human activities. Several species have become extinct in the 20th century, including the only one ever resident in the United States, the Carolina parakeet Conuropsis carolinensis. Some rare species have also become endangered through private collecting activities. Pet trade in parrots was once restricted because of fears of psittacosis, or "parrot fever," but the disease is now easily treated and is also now known to be carried by many kinds of birds.
Bosch, Klaus, and Weede, Ursula, Encyclopedia of Amazon Parrots (1984)
De Grahl, Wolfgang, The Parrot Family (1985)
Forshaw, Joseph M., Parrots of the World, 2d ed. (1978)
Kuroda, Nagamichi, Parrots of the World in Life Colours (1975)
Low, Rosemary, The Parrots of South America (1972)