Parrots

This group gathers Birds subcategory members belonging to the order Psittaciformes, defined by a strongly curved, hooked upper bill and feet with two toes pointing forward and two back, an arrangement called zygodactyl that gives parrots an unusually dexterous grip for climbing and for manipulating food or objects with one foot while balancing on the other. It spans the large macaws and the crested cockatoos, the small, often gregarious budgerigar and its lovebird and conure relatives, and two notable New Zealand outliers, the kea, an alpine parrot known for its curiosity and problem-solving, and the flightless, nocturnal, critically endangered kakapo, the heaviest living parrot species. Parrots are widely regarded, alongside the crow family among the passerines, as among the most intelligent birds, with several species capable of vocal mimicry, tool use and social learning documented in controlled study.