Parrot Families

This group gathers taxon/Bird Families subcategory members that are themselves bird families belonging to the order Psittaciformes, the parrots, cockatoos, macaws and their relatives, birds immediately recognizable for a strongly curved, hooked bill and, in most species, feet with two toes pointing forward and two pointing backward, an arrangement called zygodactyl that gives an unusually dexterous grip for climbing and manipulating food. Parrot families are found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the Southern Hemisphere, and the group is widely regarded, alongside the corvids among the passerines, as among the most intelligent birds known, with several species capable of complex problem-solving, tool use and, famously, vocal mimicry of human speech and other environmental sounds. Many parrot species are long-lived relative to their body size and form strong, often lifelong pair bonds with a mate.