Little parrots: species, how many live and how to care?

In the 21st century, you can get almost any animal in your pets: a raccoon or a fox, a tiger cub or a snake. What can we say about the usual fish, hamsters, cats or dogs. Also parrots are still very popular.

Little parrots are unpretentious in care, it is interesting to watch them not only for children, but also for adults. In addition, they are restless and interested in everything around, they love to play and can be taught to talk.

The smallest are the following types of parrots:

• woodpeckers;
• lovebirds;
• wavy;
• passerines

These birds are among the most miniature parrots in the world. And all because their maximum size reaches 15 cm, and weight - less than 15 grams. It is quite simple to recognize them by color: top - green, bottom - yellow; the very edge of the feathers is edged with black. Males are much brighter than females.

The tail of this bird also has a different color: the upper part is blue, and the lower one is black. It is short, straight or slightly rounded than the tail of a woodpecker. The beak of this bird is narrow, curved, with scars above it.

Birds love figs, mushrooms, seeds, and small insects. A total of 6 subspecies of these parrots are known: the Bruin, Finsch, Schlegel, Salvadori, Meek woodpecker. The natural habitats are New Guinea, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands.

Birds move quickly along the trunks of trees with the help of jumps, leaning on the tail, they like to live on treetops.

These parrots received such an unusual name due to the fact that the male and female do not part for a long time. These small birds are larger than woodpeckers, but not by much. Body length is 17 cm, tail - 6 cm. Beak large. Birds are predominantly colored green, a bright color of the neck, breast and head (usually yellow, red, blue) is considered a characteristic feature.

According to the color of the head feathers, the species is divided into 9 subspecies: masked, black-cheeked, Fisher, strawberry-headed, pink-cheeked, black-winged, red-faced, Madagascar and green-winged. Tropical species living near the water, brought from the island of Madagascar and from Africa. Life expectancy is 15-20 years.

In captivity they are curious, like to try everything on the beak, to take sun baths and water procedures. They can’t learn a large number of words, but they are very sociable. It is better to settle them in pairs, they suffer and feel bad alone.

About the features of lovebirds, see the following video.

The most common birds with white-blue or green-yellow color of feathers, but there are other options derived by man: pink, gray, purple flowers. Head and throat yellow shade. This species is larger than the previous two: weight - up to 45 grams, length - up to 25 cm, wings in a span - 11 cm. The tail is long - up to 10 cm.

Wavy black lines are laid out on the head with feathers, and that is where the name comes from. The beak is big, strong, strong, in it they carry food, water, small objects.

Brought this variety from Australia. In nature, they live in eucalyptus groves, on the territory of savannas and semi-deserts near water bodies.They prefer to look for water and food, having gathered in large flocks.

Choose them as pets due to innate friendliness, unpretentiousness, intelligence and sociability of birds. Well and quickly memorize human speech, able to reproduce long words and phrases. With good care, they live on average 10-15 years, in the wild - about 6 years.

Outwardly and in size they look like sparrows, which became the basis for the name. They feel good both in a small space and in a large aviary. The length is slightly longer than that of woodpeckers - up to 14 cm, weight - 30 g. The color is bright, various shades of green, yellow, blue. The tail is short, often rounded. The bill is thick, wide, small.

The habitat of their habitats are the mangroves of America (both North and South), as well as the territory of Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay.

The parrot is an exotic bird, accustomed to the warm climate and tropical forests. Which means that Having decided to grow a little parrot at home, it is necessary to create comfortable conditions for it to live in order not to destroy this interesting bird.

Of course, you can keep a parrot without a cage, but then be prepared to remove feathers, waste products from everywhere, and constantly hide important papers and small objects. In addition, a pet may be injured or fly through a door or window.

In the cage, there must be a trough (for dry and wet food) and a trough, several poles or twigs at different distances and heights (preferably natural, but not coniferous branches), toys. The number of items depends on how long the bird will stay in the cage. Toys can be purchased at a special store, and you can make yourself. You can also put a cup with small stones, it is necessary in order to clear the stratum corneum from its beak and claws.

Parrots have a very fast metabolism, so you can not allow a hunger strike in any case. The best option would be food in free access, especially if the bird is not alone. Animal food (cottage cheese, boiled eggs), seeds of oats, sunflower, porridge on water without salt, insects (eggs of ants, bloodworms), fresh vegetables and fruits, greens must be present in the diet.

In the drinking bowl should always be clean fresh water, it must be changed daily and as it becomes polluted.

Unfortunately, it happens that due to careless care birds get sick and die. The following tips will help you avoid this.

• Like other living things, Parrots are prone to infection and disease. At the first symptoms and deviations in behavior, you need to seek help from a veterinary clinic.
• Besides, once outside the cage, pets can get hurt drowning in a vessel with water, hitting a mirror or window frame, get burned or get confused in curtains, get stuck in a box. They can be hunted by other pets (especially cats), children can accidentally squeeze the birds without calculating their strength.
• If there are a lot of birds in a cage, you need to ensure that they do not peck at each other, and in the same space were birds of one temperament. Often peck young or cowardly individuals.
• Pet curiosity can also lead to dire consequences, one of which is poisoning.. After inhaling poisonous vapors (cleaning agents with active chemical composition, glue or polyurethane foam, household gas, oil paints, poisonous plants - rubber plants, ferns) are in the risk zone, the bird receives a burn of the esophagus. Poor food contains substances that can harm a pet.
• Stress. Parrots have a very weak heart, so emotional surges do not need them. Moving, frightening or longing for the lack of communication - all this slowly kills these fragile creatures.
• Conditions of detention. Cold air, high air temperature, lack of clean water, poor food, dirt in the cage - all this leads to the rapid death of the pet. It is important not to forget to take care of them, change the water and clean the cage on time.

In general, these are cute, small, funny, inquisitive, sociable, friendly, active pets. Different habits and characteristics of each breed will help you choose a bird to suit your desires. They can be watched for hours as they chirp or play about something.