Cockatoos: Louder Than All The Rest

The cockatoo is the loudest of all the parrots. 

Picture From Oakland Zoo

Their loudness comes from a history of having to communicate long distances with one another in dark, thick forests. Their vocalizations serve a number of functions, including allowing individuals to recognize one another, alerting others of predators, indicating individual moods, maintaining the cohesion of a flock and as warnings when defending nests

Meet the Kakapo

The kakapo may be one of the most unique birds in the world, and with only 131 living individuals left, it is certainly the rarest.

Kakapos are flightless parrots native to New Zealand. Mature adults can weigh over 9lbs, making them the heaviest parrots in the world. They are also extremely long-lived, with an average life span of 90-120 years.

Kakapos were common to New Zealand prior to colonization. Like the kiwi, it is believed that the kakapo lost its ability to fly due to the isolation of its habitat and lack of any native predators. When settlers began to arrive in New Zealand they brought along nonnative animals such as cats, dogs, weasels and rats. Kakapos, slow-moving and unequipped with any way of escaping these animals became easy prey, and were nearly wiped out by the beginning of the twentieth century.

In recent decades, all remaining kakapos have been transferred from mainland New Zealand to predator-free outlying islands as part of an intense recovery plan. Nearly all of the remaining 131 birds are well-known and individually named by researchers and zoologists.

For more information on this amazing bird you can visit the Kakapo Recovery website.

Are Crows the Smartest Birds in the World?

When you consider the true brainiacs of the animal kingdom it’s usually dolphins, chimpanzees and great apes that come to mind; with the exception of parrots, birds aren’t likely to make most people’s lists. However, research over the past decade is beginning to indicate that crows may not only be the smartest birds, but possibly more intelligent than even chimpanzees.

American crow - Photo by Walter Siegmund

The term “crow” is used to refer to any bird of the 40 or so members of the Corvus genus. Some members of the genus may also be called ravens or jackdaws. Crows can be found throughout most of the world, even introducing themselves to areas where they are not native. Most members of the genus are fairly large birds that are black in color.

Certain species of crows have shown remarkable intelligence not seen elsewhere in birds. New Caledonian crows are known for their tool making. In one test a crow was observed bending a piece of straight wire into a hook to lift a bucket of food from a vertical pipe; it had never been exposed to wire before. These crows also make tools out of grass and sticks to probe for insects in trees, and have even been seen dropping nuts on to busy streets so the heavy cars would crack them. Even more amazing, the crows would then fly down to intersections and only cross into the street with pedestrians to retrieve the nuts safely.

Crows also exhibit complex social behaviors, particularly seen in the common raven. Young ravens tend to make a large fuss when feeding on a carcass in order to attract other juveniles so they can feed in the safety of a group. Adults on the other hand stay whisper quiet when feeding so as not to attract uninvited guests. Like parrots, ravens are capable of mimicking almost any sound they hear, including human speech. They use this ability both to mock and confuse other animals, even mimicking the call of a coyote or wolf to attract them to a carcass that is too thick for the raven to open itself.

The Amazing African Grey Parrot

We all know that parrots and other birds can learn to talk, and they will often learn and imitate sounds and phrases they’re exposed to. However, the African grey parrot is one bird that has demonstrated abilities far beyond just imitation.

This first video shows an African grey named Alex who actually demonstrated the ability to count and determine shapes and color when working with researchers. Unfortunately Alex is no longer with us, but other parrots have since demonstrated these amazing abilities.

This next video is all about having fun. Einstein the African grey parrot is a huge star for her ability to imitate and do impressions of all kinds of things…

As incredible as these birds are, they’re quite a commitment to own as pets. So before you decide that a parrot is right for you, consider that African greys can live to be 60 years old!

Vibrant Parrots Fly Big

The macaw parrot is extremely vibrant, adapted to live in the colorful habitat of the Central and South American rain forests. They are smart, social birds that gather in groups of 10 to 30. And their loud squawks can be heard throughout the forests. There are over 17 species of macaw; unfortunately, many of them are endangered because of their rapid loss of habitat. The hyacinth macaw is the largest of the parrot family with a wingspan of up to 4 feet long.

New World Parrots

I came across this poem by Mark Twain:
She was not quite what you would call refined.
She was not quite what you would call unrefined.
She was the kind of person that keeps a parrot.
It made me laugh. But today we aren’t going to talk about parrots as pets, but parrots in the wild and specifically Amazon parrots, since we’ve been in the western hemisphere for over a week.

There are 27 species of Amazon parrot. They are predominantly green with accenting colors. Many are named for their coloration. Most Amazon parrots live in trees, especially in lowland tropical forests. They eat fruit, seeds, nuts, berries, buds and blossoms.

The Orange-winged Amazon Parrot is usually seen during the day flying in pairs above the forest canopy. At night they roost communally in groups of up to 600 birds.

The Lilac-crowned Amazon Parrot is usually seen in flocks, sometimes up to 200 to 300 birds.

The Tucumán Amazon from Argentina and Bolivia is rare and endangered due to habitat destruction and trapping for the pet trade.

The picture below is an Amazon Blue Front Parrot. From this picture and others I've looked at, the blue front refers to the area above the beak.

JJ