What are your top five favourite parrot species ?

Tim May said:
1. Pesquet's parrot
2. imperial amazon parrot
3. kaka
4. greater vasa parrot
5. palm cockatoo

I deliberately restricted the above list to species I've seen, otherwise kakapo would probably have been number one.
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Thanks for sharing @Tim May !

The Imperial amazon parrot is a really interesting one indeed, not only a beautiful looking parrot with that purple plumage but also very endangered.

Have you seen one of these in captivity ?
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
The Imperial amazon parrot is a really interesting one indeed, not only a beautiful looking parrot with that purple plumage but also very endangered.

Have you seen one of these in captivity?
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Yes, although not for many years.

I saw imperial amazon parrot, back in the 1980s, on my first few visits to Walsrode.

(I also saw the species in London Zoo in the 1960s.)
 
Tim May said:
Yes, although not for many years.

I saw imperial amazon parrot, back in the 1980s, on my first few visits to Walsrode.

(I also saw the species in London Zoo in the 1960s.)
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What did you like particularly about this species @Tim May ?

Was it the colour of the plumage or was there something about the temperament of the bird that you liked ?
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Thanks for your post @The Cassowary !

What is it about these species that you like so much ?
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The kakapo is just a really unusual parrot in that it’s a flightless, nocturnal ground-dweller, and its round face and big, chunky body are just so endearing in my opinion.

Pesquet’s parrot just looks really badass with its vulture-like head and black-and-red plumage, and I just can’t help but love that.

Keas are another really unique parrot, being omnivorous and living at high altitudes. Their inquisitive, mischievous nature also gives them a lot of personality.

The red-tailed black cockatoo just has a really elegant appearance in my opinion, and I really like the sexual dimorphism it has going on.

I love hyacinth macaws because the way the bright yellow skin around their eyes and lower jaw contrasts with their deep blue feathers, in combination with their large size, makes them very striking, impressive looking birds.
 
The Cassowary said:
The kakapo is just a really unusual parrot in that it’s a flightless, nocturnal ground-dweller, and its round face and big, chunky body are just so endearing in my opinion.

Pesquet’s parrot just looks really badass with its vulture-like head and black-and-red plumage, and I just can’t help but love that.

Keas are another really unique parrot, being omnivorous and living at high altitudes. Their inquisitive, mischievous nature also gives them a lot of personality.

The red-tailed black cockatoo just has a really elegant appearance in my opinion, and I really like the sexual dimorphism it has going on.

I love hyacinth macaws because the way the bright yellow skin around their eyes and lower jaw contrasts with their deep blue feathers, in combination with their large size, makes them very striking, impressive looking birds.
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Thank you for giving more detail about why you like these species !

You've described them really well in terms of appearance and temperaments and I agree with all of your observations :)

I particularly like what you wrote about the Kea and the Kakapo which also really captured why I myself find these species so appealing too.
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Interesting choices @CheeseChameleon2007 , thanks for sharing !

I hadn't heard of the "dracula parrot" before until I looked it up just now and found that it is the Pesquet's parrot which I have seen in zoos before.

Interesting and suitable alternative name for the species as it does look a bit dracula like with that hooked beak and red and black plumage.
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I was a bit surprised about the Name as well, When I heard about it I had no Idea what a dracula parrot was, and then I'm like. Oh yeah, Pesquet's parrot.
I have grown to use the name because I think its very fitting.
 
5. Palm Cockatoo
4. Scarlet Macaw
3. Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo
2. Sun Conure
1. Rainbow Lorikeet

Honorable Mentions:

- Blue-And-Gold Macaw
- Plum-Headed Parakeet
- Galah
- Eclectus Parrot
- Hyacinth Macaw
- Eastern Rosella
- Yellow-Collared Lovebird
 
Only 5? From sightings,
5. Brehm’s Tiger Parrot, a delightful bird table bird in central PNG.
4. Macaws, such a prominent feature of Amazonia; I am choosing a mated pair, wild in Peru, one Scarlet and one Blue & Yellow!
3. Palm Cockatoo; one perched right at the top of an emergent tree seen from a canoe in PNG.
2. Eastern Rosella; such a stunning garden bird in Eastern Australia
1. By no means the rarest, but Burrowing Parrots flying over their breeding cliffs in Southern Argentina are wonderful.
But no doubt; Kakapo are far and away top of the list of greatest parrots!
 
Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
What did you like particularly about this species @Tim May ?

Was it the colour of the plumage or was there something about the temperament of the bird that you liked ?
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I didn't notice anything distinctive about the imperial amazon's temperament but I thought its plumage was particularly attractive. It is the bird's beautiful colouration, coupled with the fact that it is a species seldom seen in zoological collections, that makes it one of my favourite psittacines.
 
Limiting myself to species I've seen alive and in no particular order:

Budgerigar
Gorgeous little bird with a charming voice. A group them socializing is a joy to watch and hear. I prefer the wild type, but the "domestic" blue variant is also great.

Red-lored amazon
A very typical amazon parrot but the most beautiful in my opinion, with a gorgeous colour combination on the face and a completely green body.

Elegant parrot
A flock of this species is a gorgeous sight, and I'm unsure why zoos in Europe don't seem to like this species. The two shades of blue look perfect on the light green bird.

Golden parakeet
A bird I hardly believed could exists until I saw one at a parrot sanctuary. On pictures it looks unreal in but the colours fit perfectly on the bird in real life.

Red-shouldered macaw
A typical macaw but very small, this bird is both handsome and cute. Almost entirely green with a blue-ish crown and red shoulders, this species is not overly colourful but very elegant.
 
1. Spix Macaw- because I waited near enough fifty years to see this almost mythical species.

2. Kakapo. Amazing bird. Never expected to see one but I've even held one too!

3. Military/Buffon's Macaw. Like the more subtle colouration compared to the more brightly- coloured Macaws.

4. Major Mitchell Cockatoo. Favourite cockatoo- beautiful colours- seen in the wild too.

5. Hawk-headed Parrot- saw it described as a 'bizarre beauty' once, which it is. Haven't seen one in many years though.

Extra; Imperial Amazon- this is one I probably won't see now, due to rarity in captivity, there is one pair at ACPT in Germany I believe, and a single handraised one in Florida(?) which is the offspring of one of the ACPT birds from before they left Dominica. I may have seen the one at ZSL in the distant past but cannot remember it.
 
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Onychorhynchus coronatus said:
Thank you for your reply @Stefan Verhoeven ! These are some interesting choices here.

First question, have you worked with the Lear's macaw as your comment seems to imply that you have ?

When you say the red breasted pygmy parrot and its behaviour interests you is this because of its diet of fungi and lichen ?

The orange breasted fig parrot is a gorgeous little species, really beautiful colouration of its plumage.

I really think that the Kea is a fascinating species and the ones I've seen in zoos seem to have such a lively and obvious intelligence.
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Indeed I worked (briefly) with Lear's macaws. Very sweet and intelligent birds and beautiful soft blue colors. Also the rarety of the species increased the experience.

The pygmy parrots have a special diet preference that is quiet unique, and could be interesting to watch. But as the Micropsitta genus is not well studied and have been almost none existing in captivity, I am also interested to know their general behaviour, how they move, their social interactions and their foraging.

Kea are amongst the smartest of the parrot species, but without a doubt are the most curious and investigative species of the order.
 
I wonder if the mystery of pygmy parrot Micropsitta diet was solved, and what about keeping them in human care?

These tiny parrots are quite commonly seen in New Guinea and surrounding islands, creeping on tall tree trunks and eating something. However, nobody knows what they eat - even stomachs of freshly shot birds contained unidentifiable pulp. Is it lichens, fungi, insects, plant sap, all together? I saw one feeding close and they seem to lick rather than bite - possibly tiny ants or insects running on tree trunk. Maybe a lab analysis of stomach content would shed light on this mystery.
 
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