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

In the 21st century, you can bring to your pets almost any animal: 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 remain very popular.

Small parrots are unpretentious in leaving, it is interesting to observe them not only to children, but also to adults. In addition, they are fidgets and are interested in everything around them, like to play and can be taught to speak.

The following parrots are considered the smallest:

• woodpeckers;
• Lovebirds
• wavy;
• passerines.

These birds are one of the smallest parrots in the world. And all because their maximum size reaches 15 cm, and weight - less than 15 grams. It is quite easy to recognize them by color: top - green, bottom - yellow; the very edge of the feathers is bordered in 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, which resembles 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. In total, 6 subspecies of these parrots are known: the woodpecker Bruin, Finsch, Schlegel, Salvadori, Meek, Sclater. The natural habitat is New Guinea, Indonesia and the Solomon Islands.

Birds quickly move along tree trunks with the help of jumps, leaning on their tail, like to live on the tops of trees.

These parrots got 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. The body length is 17 cm, the tail is 6 cm. The beak is large. Feathered birds are mainly painted green, a characteristic feature is the bright color of the neck, chest and head (usually yellow, red, blue).

By the color of the head feathers, the species is divided into 9 subspecies: masked, black-cheeked, Fischer, strawberry-headed, pink-cheeked, black-winged, red-faced, Madagascar and green-winged. A tropical species that lives near the water was brought from the island of Madagascar and from Africa. Life expectancy is 15-20 years.

In captivity, they are curious, they like to try everything on their beak, take sun baths and water procedures. They can not learn a large number of words, but they are very sociable. Better to lodge them in pairs, they are alone and they feel bad.

About the features of budgies, see the next video.

Most often, birds with white-blue or green-yellow feathers are found, but there are other options that humans have deduced: pink, gray, purple. Head and throat are yellow. This species is larger than the previous two: weight - up to 45 grams, length - up to 25 cm, wingspan - 11 cm. The tail is long - up to 10 cm.

Wavy black lines are laid out on the head with feathers, and this is what their name came from. The beak is large, strong, strong, in it they carry food, water, small objects.

They brought this variety from Australia. In nature, they live in eucalyptus groves, in the savannah and semi-deserts near water bodies. They prefer to look for water and food in large flocks.

They are chosen as pets due to the innate friendliness, unpretentiousness, quick wit and sociability of birds. They remember human speech well and quickly, they are 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 are similar to 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 beak is thick, wide, small.

Their habitat is the mangrove forests of America (both North and South), as well as the territory of Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Paraguay.

The parrot is an exotic bird, accustomed to a warm climate and tropical forests. And that means that Having decided to grow a small parrot at home, it is necessary to create comfortable living conditions for him, so as 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, the pet may injure itself or fly out the door or window.

The cage must have a feeder (for dry and wet food) and a drinking bowl, 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 sit in the cage. Toys can be purchased at a special store, or you can make them yourself.You can also put a cup with small pebbles, this is necessary in order to clean the stratum corneum from the beak and claws.

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

There should always be clean fresh water in the drinker, it must be changed daily and as it becomes soiled.

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

• Like other living things, small parrots are susceptible to infections and diseases. At the first symptoms and deviations in behavior, it is necessary to seek help from a veterinary clinic.
• Besides, Once outside the cage, pets may be injured, drowning in a vessel with water, hitting a mirror or window frame, get burned or get confused in the curtains, get stuck in a box. They can be hunted by other pets (especially cats), children can accidentally squeeze a feathered bird without calculating strength.
• If there are a lot of birds in the cage, you must make sure that they do not peck each other, and in one space there were birds of the same temperament. Often pecking young or cowardly individuals.
• Curiosity of a pet can also lead to dire consequences, one of them is poisoning.. Inhaling poisonous vapors (cleaning agents with an active chemical composition, glue or foam, household gas, oil paints, poisonous plants - ficus, ferns are at risk), the bird gets a burn of the esophagus. Poor feed contains substances that can harm a pet.
• Stress. Parrots have a very weak heart, so they do not need emotional outbursts. Moving, fear, or longing for 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 in time.

In general, they are cute, small, funny, curious, sociable, friendly, active pets. Different habits and characteristics of each breed will help you choose a bird according to your wishes. You can watch them for hours, how they chirp or play about something.