The true parrots are about 330 species of bird belonging to the Psittacidae family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

, one of the two "traditional" families in the biological order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 Psittaciformes (parrot

Parrot

Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...

s). The other family is the Cacatuidae (cockatoo

Cockatoo

A cockatoo is any of the 21 species belonging to the bird family Cacatuidae. Along with the Psittacidae and the Strigopidae , they make up the parrot order Psittaciformes . Placement of the cockatoos as a separate family is fairly undisputed, although many aspects of the other living lineages of...

s) which are also parrots, but not classified as true parrots. True parrots are more widespread than cockatoos, with species in the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and eastwards across the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 as far as Polynesia

Polynesia

Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...

.
Like most parrots the Psittacidae are primarily seed eaters. There is some variation in the diet of individual species, with fruits, nuts, leaves and even insects and other animal prey being taken on occasion by some species. The lorikeets are predominately nectar feeders; many other parrots will drink nectar as well. Most Psittacidae are cavity nesting birds which form monogamous pair bonds.

Phylogeny

The order Psittaciformes (parrots) contains two families of parrots, the cockatoos and the true parrots. These seem to be less distinct from each other than the true parrot lineages are among themselves, and it appears as if eventually most major groups of living parrots will be given the same taxonomic rank.

• Family Psittacidae (true parrots)
  • Tribe Lorini (lories and lorikeets)
  • Tribe Psittacinae
    Psittacinae
    The Psittacinae a subfamily in the parrot family Psittacidae. It contains the true parrots, parakeets and macaws, but not the lories, lorikeets and cockatoos...
    
     (typical parrots and allies)
  • Tribe Arini
    Neotropical parrot
    The Neotropical parrots belong to the family of the true parrots Psittacidae. Several species and one of the 32 modern genera have become extinct in recent centuries. Though fairly few fossils of modern parrots are known, most of these are from Arini...
    
     (American psittacines)
  • Tribe Cyclopsittacini (fig parrots)
  • Tribe Micropsittini (pygmy parrots)
  • Tribe Platycercini (broad-tailed parrots) paraphyletic
  • Tribe Psittrichadini (Pesquet's Parrot)
  • Tribe Psittacini
    Psittacini
    Tribus Psittacini consists of Afrotropical parrots; there are 8 species in 2 genera. Traditionally, the Vasa parrots are also included in this tribe, but that inclusion is not supported by molecular studies. Several of these species have subspecies including the African Grey Parrot which has 2...
    
     (African psittacines) paraphyletic
  • Tribe Psittaculini
    Psittaculini
    Psittaculini is a tribe of parrots of the Psittacidae family. The subdivisions within the tribe are controversial.-Tribe Psittaculini:* Genus Psittinus** Blue-rumped Parrot, Psittinus cyanurus* Genus Geoffroyus...
    
     (Asian psittacines) paraphyletic

Species lists

• Species list sortable alphabetically by common or scientific name
• Species list in taxonomic order

Books

• Bruce Thomas Boehner - Parrot Culture. Our 2,500-year-Long Fascination with the World's Most Talkative Bird (2004)

External links

• City Parrots
• FreeParrots.net - News and info about parrot studies, conservation efforts, and captive welfare from around the world.
• Parrot sounds in the xeno canto collection
• Parrot videos on the Internet Bird Collection