The parrots are a broad order of more than 350 birds. Macaws, Amazons, lorikeets, lovebirds, cockatoos and many others are all considered parrots.
Though there is great diversity among these birds, there are similarities as well. All parrots have curved beaks and all are zygodactyls, meaning they have four toes on each foot, two pointing forward and two projecting backward. Most parrots eat fruit, flowers, buds, nuts, seeds, and some small creatures such as insects.
Parrots are found in warm climates all over most of the world. The greatest diversities exist in Australasia, Central America, and South America.
Many parrots are kept as pets, especially macaws, Amazon parrots, cockatiels, parakeets, and cockatoos. These birds have been popular companions throughout history because they are intelligent, charismatic, colorful, and musical. Some birds can imitate many nonavian sounds, including human speech. The male African gray parrot (Psittacus erithacus) is the most accomplished user of human speech in the animal world; this rain forest-dweller is an uncanny mimic.
Currently the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans the sale of any wild-caught species, yet the parrots' popularity continues to drive illegal trade.
Some parrot species are highly endangered. In other cases, once tame birds have reproduced in the wild and established thriving feral populations in foreign ecosystems. The monk (green) parakeet, for example, now lives in several U.S. states.
Parrot Taming, Training, and Talking.
In the initial taming sessions only one person should work with the bird. Two people make the bird nervous and tend to distract one another. The best trainer is one who has time to devote to the task. Some parrots take much longer to tame than others. If you are impatient or inconsistent, your parrot may never get trained properly.
You'll learn that most parrots have the ability to communicate better than you thought. Words, however, won't be enough to tame your bird, for parrots prefer to show their affection in a physical fashion. They love to touch and be touched in return. Parrot Training requires words AND action.
As your bird gets to trust you more, he will start to sit comfortably on your finger, shoulder or hand and may want to play with you. Now you can change the parts that you touch, from the head to the back of it's neck and towards the face. Then touch under the wings and over them.
Repeating this touching and fondling will build up an attachment or "bond". This "bonding" builds trust, which helps make the training much faster and easier.
Parrots have a natural ability to imitate speech and sounds, and this can be enhanced by talking and singing to the young parrot. The more you talk to your parrot the more quickly it will learn to talk. During feed times, repeat it's name clearly. The short span of concentration of the young bird means that the talking lessons are only a few minutes long. Give him an easy name which has "ee" sounds separated by a hard consonant, like "Peter".
The methods for teaching parrots are the same as those used for children. They learn to talk by listening to their parents and by looking at their face.
Parrot training has begun when your bird steps out of it's cage and onto your finger.
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