The Parrot Family

Crack! A parrot cracks a large piece of fruit for its breakfast. Its strong beak can crack open tough fruits that it eats. Unlike other birds, parrots have a funny shape for their bill. Its top is like the top quarter of a circle. the bottom has a flat top and a long, curvy bottom half. This beak is made especially for cracking fruits that it eats. Parrots live mostly in rainforests and jungles. They live high in the canopy of the rainforest and the emergent trees. To grasp hold of branches, they have 2 toes pointing forward and 2 backwards. Parrots are known for being colorful birds that can sometimes talk. Parrots are able to talk because they are the only birds with tongues. Besides parrots there are lorikeets, cockatoos, cockatiels, macaws, and many more. They like to squawk and screech. Parrots are becoming endangered and disappearing because of habitat loss and people are selling rare ones for pets which in some places is not legal for ones that will become extinct soon. Parrots eat seeds, fruit, and other plants that grow in the rainforest. Parrots live in Africa, South America, and Asia. If the rainforests in those continents are cut down, there will be no wonderful parrots for us look at and enjoy. People must learn to take good care of our rainforest to save these wonderful animals.

By Tessa Sagner