How many kinds of parrots are there? | ECOVIEWS
Q. While traveling through southern Florida, we saw a flock of green birds that looked like parrots. What could they have been? Aren’t parrots restricted to the tropics of South America and Africa?
A. They were probably monk parakeets, a type of parrot introduced to the United States from Argentina through the pet trade. Pet monk parakeets that either escaped or were intentionally released have been reported from a dozen states and have become naturalized in the subtropical climate of southern Florida. These gregarious birds are now found even in parts of New York City and Chicago. Whether you consider monk parakeets an environmental asset or a nuisance depends on your point of view. Some people enjoy seeing a flock of noisy, bright green birds flying about. But because they congregate in colonies and build stick nests on powerlines, which may cause power outages, their popularity wanes in some situations.
The term “parrot” refers to a wide variety of more than 300 species of birds that include parakeets. Parrots comprise three or more biologically distinct groups. In addition to parakeets, other well-known varieties are macaws, cockatoos, lorikeets and lovebirds. The fact that ornithologists recognize more than 15 species of macaws and 80 kinds of parakeets speaks to the genetic diversity of the overall group.
As for the global distribution of species, according to the book "Parrots: The Animal Answer Guide" written by Matt Cameron and published by Johns Hopkins University Press, parrots have representatives in tropical and subtropical regions on all continents. The greatest species concentrations are from Mexico into South America and in Australia and surrounding islands. Each of those regions has more than 150 species. A scientific publication from 1982 provides an indication of how significant parrots can be to some tropical ecosystems. In the study, the investigator recorded 17 different kinds of parrots in an area of less than 7 acres in New Guinea.
Among the questions people typically ask about any animal group are "What is the largest species and the smallest?" "How long do they live?" According to “Parrots” the largest of these birds is the hyacinth macaw of Brazil, a beautiful blue bird more than 3 feet long with an enormous head. The large head supports the gigantic beak that is necessary for crushing tough palm nuts, which make up the bulk of the bird’s diet. The smallest, the buff-faced pygmy parrot of New Guinea, is tiny enough to fit in a pocket. Generally, the larger a parrot, the longer its life expectancy; pet parrots can live from 10 to 60 years or longer.
Many parrots can talk, usually through simple mimicry, but studies with a grey parrot suggest a basic level of language awareness. The author notes that "it is unlikely that humans and parrots will be sitting down discussing the weather any day soon" but the capabilities of some species are remarkable. As for their intelligence, parrots are "among the smartest of all nonhuman animals." Research on captive parrots has demonstrated impressive cognitive abilities, with problem-solving and tool-using being observed among several species.
Are any parrot species endangered? Unfortunately, the answer to that question is yes. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, well over a dozen species are now critically endangered, meaning they have an "extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future."
The IUCN places twice as many more in the endangered category, and even more than that are considered vulnerable. The endangered and vulnerable categories mean the possibility of extinction is imminent.
Sadly, at least 19 species have gone extinct since Europeans reached the Americas. One of these, the Carolina parakeet, was the only parrot native to the United States. The last known specimens of this beautiful, once-common bird disappeared in the 1920s. Perhaps monk parakeets will fill part of the ecological void left by Carolina parakeets with the result being large green birds once again flying around many parts of the country.
Whit Gibbons is professor of zoology and senior biologist at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. If you have an environmental question or comment, email ecoviews@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: How many kinds of parrots are there? | ECOVIEWS
