Around 300 species of the parrot family have been recorded throughout the world, extending from the tropics to the subtropical and colder parts of the Southern Hemisphere. 56 species are found in Australia, and only five of these are found elsewhere in the world. The parrot family includes cockatoos, lorikeets, rosellas, ringnecks and budgerigars.
What do parrots look like?
Parrots are most striking for their range of brilliant colours, which includes shades of green, red, pink, yellow, blue, purple, black and white. In some parrot species, male and female birds have the same colouring. In others, the female is the plainer of the pair. This has two advantages:
it is the male who attracts the female to mate
if the female is less obvious to predators, she has a better chance of surviving to breed and rear her young successfully.
Other features include:
yoke-toed feet, with two toes facing directly forwards and the other two facing backwards, which helps parrots to hold food when eating.
a short, hooked bill with a bulging cere (the bare, wax-like structure at the base of the upper beak)
a short neck and legs
prominent eyes
a large head with a compact, bulky body.
How do they communicate?
The loud, raucous noises that parrots make are a form of communication. The various calls indicate warnings of danger, locations of food, distress calls and food-begging (especially when young). These calls are sometimes accompanied by movement, so that the flash of colours becomes part of the message as well.
Where do they live?
Parrots will nest, feed and breed in a wide variety of environments – including deserts, rainforests, mountain ranges, flat grasslands and coastal areas. However, because lorikeets have a preference for nectar and pollen, their habitat is mainly limited to the forested areas of the continent. They usually move throughout the year to follow the seasonal flowering of trees.
Many parrot species gather in large flocks, and it is not uncommon in some inland areas to see flocks of galahs containing thousands of birds. Living in such large groups does have advantages – safety being the most obvious one. For example, a few cockatoos will watch for danger while the rest of the flock is feeding or drinking.
What do they eat?
Parrots eat a variety of seeds, flowers, leaves, insects, grubs, native fruits and berries. Cockatoos and rosellas will raid fruit orchards, too. Many parrots have also developed an appetite for wheat, sunflower seeds, corn and other crops.
Because seeds make up a large part of their diet, a parrot's beak has to be tough enough to crack open shells. It is also used to hold onto branches when climbing. The beak grows continually, and by chewing on hard material such as seeds and branches, a parrot can keep the size of its beak under control while keeping the cutting edge sharp.
Cockatoos and most other parrots have hard, rough tongues which move the food around in their beaks. Lorikeets have a brush-like tip to their tongues, which is used to get nectar and pollen from flowers.
Breeding
Most small parrots breed between August and January – the time of year when most food is available. However, some species living in dry areas will breed after rain in any season. Some cockatoos breed between March and October.
Parrots usually nest in tree hollows, though some rarer species will nest in termite mounds or on the ground. Smaller parrots lay up to eight eggs, and the young take around five weeks to fledge (ie. to grow feathers and leave the nest). Cockatoos and lorikeets usually lay one to three eggs, and it may take three months before young cockatoos leave the nest.
Some parrot species have developed baby-minding 'creches'. As the young grow old enough to be left alone, they are put in these creches (or nurseries) while the parents gather food.
Threats to parrots
European agriculture has provided parrots with food (in planted crops) and water (in dams and bores) in areas where they did not previously live. This has led to a population expansion for some species. However, these changes may have resulted in a drop in the numbers of other species. For example, the clearing of native forests for farmland in some areas has reduced the number of living and breeding sites for the parrots which previously lived in those habitats.
Illegal trapping and smuggling operations of live birds may have contributed to the decrease in Australian parrot populations, but the removal of eggs from their nests poses a bigger threat. This is because nest-robbers will often destroy the birds' nesting hollow, making it unavailable for the next breeding season. It is easier to obtain and transport eggs than adult birds, and far greater numbers can be smuggled from the country and distributed overseas by this means.
All parrots are legally protected throughout NSW by the National Parks and Wildlife Act. More than 10 species have been listed as threatened in NSW.

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