View parrot photos, license parrot stock pictures, and buy stunning parrot prints by award winning professional photographer Jon Cornforth. To license an image for editorial or commercial use, click on the License Image button and fill out the form. To purchase a fine art print, select your image size and presentation style before clicking on the Buy Print button.
Colorful, Talking Birds
Parrots, also known as psittacines, are birds of the roughly 393 species in 92 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes. Parrots have a generally pantropical distribution with several species inhabiting temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere. However, the greatest diversity of parrots lies in South America and Australasia.
Characteristic features of parrots include a strong, curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Many parrots are vividly coloured, while some are multi-coloured. Most parrots exhibit little or no visible sexual dimorphism.
The most important components of most parrots’ diets are seeds, nuts, fruit, buds, and other plant material. A few species sometimes eat animals and carrion. However, lories and lorikeets feed only on floral nectar and soft fruits. Almost all parrots nest in tree hollows. They lay white eggs, from which hatch altricial (helpless) young.
Parrots, along with ravens, crows, jays, and magpies, are among the most intelligent birds. Some can even imitate human voices.
Unfortunately, parrots experience more exploitation than any other group of birds. Measures taken to conserve the habitats of some high-profile, charismatic species have also protected many charismatic species living in the same ecosystems.