An interesting fact about parrots for children

Parrots are exotic birds that live on all continents of the Earth, except for Antarctica. To date, of course, they are a fairly well-studied species. However, ordinary people do not know much about these amazing birds, who have been living with them for almost two centuries as pets.

The appearance of parrots in the Old World

The first interesting fact about parrots is the history of their appearance in Europe. It is known for certain that these birds were brought from Australia by the ornithologist D. Gould in 1840. The scientist did a lot to adapt these fauna representatives to the territory of the Old World. He not only placed the birds in the Antwerp Zoo, where they first managed to breed in this part of the world, but also made a very detailed description of this species. The treatise on the parrots was so detailed and well composed that all ornithologists who later studied them had practically nothing to add to the already written by D. Gould.

Interesting facts about parrots are not limited to their appearance in Europe. This species of birds was discovered by a naturalist who accompanied James Cook while traveling to Australia. In the southeastern part of this continent, sailors saw wavy parrots.

It should be noted that the birds were actively exported from Australia to Europe, which almost led to the complete disappearance of this species on the territory of the smallest continent on Earth. That is why the government decided to ban the export of these fauna from the territory of Australia.

Studying parrots

Ornithologists for a long time after the appearance of this species of birds in Europe not only studied their habits, but also carried out various genetic experiments. This is another interesting fact about parrots. Breeders brought out more than two hundred new species of these fauna. They differ in the color and shape of the feathers, the presence or absence of a tuft, the length of the tail, and many other indicators.

It is from these experiments that another interesting fact about parrots follows. First of all, scientists with the help of crossing individuals of different colors brought birds with a monophonic color of feathers. Thus there were yellow parrots. Later, already in the XX century, ornithologists managed to bring out blue and white representatives of this species.

A special color was acquired by parrots, over which scientists worked in Britain and France. They have since 1921 a unique purple feather color , which is considered one of the rarest colors of these birds.

Genetic experiments

Ornithologists H. Steiner and H. Dunker were engaged in genetic development, dealing directly with the color of parrots. So, scientists have found out that the color of feathers, which has not yet been obtained, namely black, is theoretically possible. This is due to the fact that the color of these birds is known to be black in the form of inclusions on the cheeks and on the tips of the feathers.

Interesting facts about wavy parrots touch their red coloring. Scientists have found out that it is genetically impossible to breed such a breed. In parrots, this color is simply absent in the DNA structure. In addition, none of those close to this type of family can also borrow this gene. Thus, the red wavy parrot remains a pipe dream for ornithologists and all lovers of these small sociable birds.

A special result of genetic experiments are crested breeds of parrots, which managed to be removed only in the last century.

Question and answer

As you know, children are very fond of pets and try to spend as much time with them as possible. In addition, kids are very inquisitive, so they want to get as much information as possible on what is really important to them. That is why it is worthwhile to bring interesting facts about parrots for children, as these birds are one of the most popular species of domestic animals.

Of course, every owner talks to his pet. But does he understand a person? And most importantly: can an animal respond to a question asked to it or something to ask? Scientists trained monkeys for a long time. The essence of the program was to teach primates the ability to answer questions and ask them. The first goal was achieved. The monkeys answered the questions of scientists with success. However, the primates themselves could not ask the researchers anything.

Thus, scientists came to the conclusion that animals simply can not formulate and ask questions. This theory was denied by the parrot Alex, who asked what color he was. It is worth noting that the bird knew only about a hundred words.

Names and rhythm

Another interesting fact about parrots is that they give their chicks at birth names. Of all the creatures living on Earth, only people and dolphins do this. Parrots call the chicks with a certain combination of sounds, which not only denotes the name of a particular individual, but also indicates the gender and belonging to a particular family and species.

A few years ago, scientists argued that only people have a sense of rhythm. But in 2011, the researchers analyzed a video recording on which a parrot named Snegok moved to music. The scientists noted that the bird slowed down and accelerated movements depending on the tempo of the melody, and also shook its head to the beat of the composition. Later, the researchers studied more than a thousand videos with dancing parrots and came to the conclusion that these birds still have a sense of rhythm.

Wonderful salvation

Interesting facts about parrots for children are not limited to the ability of birds to ask questions and answer them. In the state of Idaho (USA), firemen rescued unusual burnt-out people. They were two parrots. It should be noted that at the time of the fire in the house there was no one but birds. When firefighters entered the dwelling in search of those who need to be saved, they heard screams: Help! (Help!). Going to the voice, people found two parrots that remained in the house. This case proves how smart pets are.

Crackers

It should be mentioned interesting facts about the macaws of the macaw. They, like many other large species of these birds, have an amazing talent to open locks. This is not about the fact that parrots can just open the door with a key, but with a real burglary with a hairpin. In this case, the bird does not require a reward for the work done, that is, it does not have an incentive.

The presence of such talent is facilitated by such interesting facts from the life of parrots, as a passion for all sorts of mechanisms, as well as small, shiny things. Note that the bird sitting on the woman's shoulder immediately pays attention to the earrings, chain or pendant. Obviously, the ability to break locks appeared out of love for all sorts of decorations that parrots sometimes manage to steal without betraying themselves.