Anatomical features of parrots. The structure of the budgerigar scary parrot tongue

You might find this article very helpful.

The budgerigar belongs to the small species, the length of its body is only 18 cm, but if we are talking about exhibition wavy parrots-Czechs, then the size of the bird here is 24 cm. The length is measured from the crown to the tip of the tail.

Visual representation of the structure of the budgerigar in the photo:

Photo: Karen

Budgerigar anatomy

Bones the budgerigar, like other birds, is hollow, light and strong. Strong pectoral muscles are attached to the keel bone.

Scull large.

Neck long, consisting of 10 vertebrae. Allows the bird to rotate its head almost 180 degrees.

Jaws. The upper part of the beak at budgerigar not spliced ​​with the skull (unlike other birds), it forms a mobile connection with a wide range of action. This is due to the fact that the parrot's upper jaw is connected by a tendon to the frontal part.

Beak. Budgerigars have a strong rounded beak. It is covered with a strong stratum corneum. The wax with nasal openings is located at the base of the beak (upper beak). Budgerigars have a much more mobile beak than other birds.

Photo: garden beth

Language... Wavy - smooth-tongued parrots, the tip of their tongue is covered with a stratum corneum. The tongue itself is thick, short and rounded.

Eyes. Budget parrots see the world in color, with shades and at a wide angle (monocular vision), that is, they simultaneously observe two "broadcasts". When the bird wants to examine an object, it tilts its head to one side and looks at it with one eye.

The bird also has a third eyelid (flashing membrane) that protects the eyeball from dirt and drying out.

Budgerigars have no eyelashes, they are replaced by small half-feathers.

Ears. The hearing organs of budgies are hidden by feathers. They help the birds to navigate and communicate.

Birds perceive sounds in the range from 120 Hz to 15 kHz.

Paws Budgerigars are strong, they allow birds to deftly move along branches, run on the ground, hold, carry and throw food or objects.

Fingers... The wavy has 4 long toes on each leg.

Photo: David Ellis

Claws sharp, tenacious and curved.

Leather in budgerigars, it is hidden under dense plumage. If you spread / inflate the feathers, you can see a thin, like a film, skin, under which there is a net of blood vessels.

The body temperature of the budgerigar is about 42 degrees.

Respiratory system. The wavy has two pairs of "air sacs". When inhaled, air is directed through the lungs into the air sacs of the neck and head; when you exhale, air from the abdominal sacs passes through the lungs. The oxygen enrichment of the parrot's body occurs by constantly running air through the lungs.

Because of this feature, the bird is very vulnerable to harmful impurities in the air.

Budgerigar respiration rate: 65-85 breaths per minute.

In the chest cavity is the organ "syrinx" (lower larynx), it is located in the place where the trachea is divided into the right and left bronchi. Syrinx consists of membranes, folds and muscles that can change shape, size, degree of tension, which forms the bird's voice.

Why ? Parrots can copy sounds and speech, they are very good imitators. All this they get thanks to the influence of the brain on the lower larynx.

The cardiovascular system... Birds, like humans, have arterial and venous circulatory systems... But interestingly, birds have rather large hearts, this is due to the high metabolic rate (especially during flight).

Photo: Andy Langager

The heart rate of the budgerigar during the rest period is about 400-600 beats per minute, in flight it exceeds 1000 beats.

Under such conditions, the blood pressure of the parrot will be necessarily high.

Digestive system... The bird has food receptors in the sky. There are much fewer of them than in humans, so you can't call the budgerigar a gourmet.

There is no saliva in the bird's mouth, food is moistened, getting into the esophagus, and then into the stomach. Further - the duodenum and intestines. Recycled residues are discharged through the cloaca.

Birds do not have a bladder or urethra; the kidneys form urine, which is excreted through the cloaca.

Nervous system similar to human. It regulates and coordinates the activity of all parts of the parrot's body.

The brain is more complex in structure than the brain of reptiles. It is larger, the cerebral hemispheres are smooth without convolutions and grooves. Inside them are the centers of coordination of instinctive forms of brain activity, including singing and feeding. Behind the hemispheres is the cerebellum, on which the maintenance of balance in flight depends.

The higher parts of the brain control the spinal cord.

The autonomic nervous system regulates the functioning of the digestive system, blood circulation, excretion and reproduction. She is also responsible for controlling the entire muscle group, including the heart muscle, as well as the iris.

The structure of the budgerigar, like the structure of any creature, is very a complex system... Bird watchers carefully study birds and analyze not only their behavior, but also professionally understand the work of the bird's body.

Photo: Jen

Many hobbyists mistakenly project their needs onto the needs of the budgerigar, sometimes it can be just a waste of time and money, and sometimes you can make a serious mistake in keeping the bird.

For lovers of budgies, a more in-depth study of their pet individually and at will. But even a cursory knowledge of your bird's anatomy can help you understand your pet and its needs.

V. TRETYAKOV, biologist.

A kaleidoscope of colors: a flock of mountain multicolored lorikeets.

Multicolor lorikets in nature.

A pair of red lorises.

Yellow-backed lory.

One of the many subspecies of the multicolor lorikete.

Chicks of multicolor lorikeet, bred at home.

In the family of parrots, birdwatchers distinguish the subfamily Loriinae, or brush-tongued. Unlike other parrots, which have a smooth skin of the tongue, in Loriaceae the end and top of the tongue are covered with a kind of brush made of leathery outgrowths. With their help, these amazing birds eat liquid, viscous food: lick tree sap, drink flower nectar and tropical fruit juice. The beak of lorievs is similar to the beak of the seed-eating parrots we are used to, but in reality it is much weaker. Such a parrot sits down on the inflorescence of a plant, mercilessly bites the flower and licks off the sweet liquid, while being covered with pollen from head to toe. In Australia, New Guinea and the numerous islands of the Pacific Ocean, the trees and shrubs on which the lorises feast are strewn with flowers, and parrots are not able to spoil everything. Along with insects, they contribute to the pollination of plants. Scientists suggest that birds and plants have adapted to each other for about thirty million years, eventually forming strong mutually beneficial bonds.

In addition to berries, fruits and nectar, lorises diversify their menu with juicy flower petals, young leaves, and sometimes small insects such as soft hairless caterpillars.

Getting to know some lorises

According to some data, there are 58, according to others - 70 species of loria parrots, which are part of 11 (or 16) genera. These birds range from 18 to 40 centimeters in length. Smaller species with elongated wedge-shaped tails are commonly referred to as lorikeets. They are excellent flyers. Parrots from the genus Lorius have short and wide, rounded tails and prefer to stay in the thick of tree branches. Representatives of the genera Eos and Pseudeos have intermediate tails.

The Dutch word "laurie" means "clown", and these parrots were named so for a reason. The birds are painted remarkably bright and juicy, as if they were dressed up for a carnival. Oddly enough, such a catchy coloring disguises a parrot feeding among the leaves and flowers. Variously colored plumage areas seem to divide the body into fragments.

The most terrible enemy for feathered "clowns" is snakes, in particular large tree pythons, which react not so much to the colors of the surrounding world as to the movement and smell of a potential victim.

Most often found in home zoo corners multicolor, or rainbow, lorikeet(Trichoglossus haematodus), inhabitant of multi-tiered tropical and eucalyptus forests. Ornithologists count 21-22 subspecies of this bird. The territory of its distribution is vast: the north and east of Australia, the Moluccas, part of the Sunda Islands, the islands of New Guinea, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides and Bismarck archipelagos. The subspecies differ in the peculiarities of the color of individual plumage areas. The iris of the eyes is red, in the female it is lighter, with an orange tint. The length of the birds is 26-33 centimeters.

Of all the subspecies of the multicolored lorikete, two usually fall into Europe. The first has a dark blue head, a yellow cervical stripe, a red chest area, the feathers of which have a black and blue border, a greenish belly, yellow with green stripes plumage of the tail and legs. This parrot lives in the New Hebrides archipelago.

The second subspecies, mountain multicolored lorikeet, is distinguished by a blue color of the abdomen, a greenish-yellow neck stripe, pure green shins and undertail, a red chest area, the sides of which are orange. Its area of ​​distribution is the east of Australia and Tasmania.

No less famous, but more rare parrots - wide-tailed lorises... There are eight types of them. We will mention only the yellow-backed, purple-capped and ladies' ones. The first lives in the northern and middle Moluccas, the second - in the southern, the third - in New Guinea and nearby small islands. They are about the size of a jackdaw, that is, about 30 centimeters in length. The beaks are orange-red, around the eyes there is a narrow gray ring of bare skin. These amazingly beautiful birds look like this. Yellowback lori(Lorius garrula). The main color of the plumage is bright red. The shins are green. On the upper back there is a triangular yellow spot. The wings are olive green, their folds are yellow. The end of the tail is green with a purple tint. Purple-capped lori(L. domicella) is also mostly red. A yellow stripe runs across the goiter. The top of the head is black with a purple tint. The plumage of the legs is blue. The wings are olive green, blue at the folds. The end of the tail is blackish. Lady loris(L. Lori). There is a black "cap" on the head. The sides of the head, occiput, throat, flanks of the body, lower back and upper tail coverts are red. The upper back, goiter, chest, belly, and lower tail coverts are blue. The red plumage of the head, throat and occiput is separated from the red plumage of the sides of the body by a blue transverse stripe running from the goiter to the upper back. The wings are green above. The tail is red, dark blue at the end.

All these parrots are especially demanding on feeding and are very thermophilic. But with proper, caring care, they live for a long time, strongly attached to a person. Even adult birds caught in nature are easily tamed when kept alone. In their ability to imitate human speech, they surpass not only other species of lorises and lorikeets, but also most large and medium-sized parrots (with the exception of the gray and some Amazons). Red lori(Eos bornea) is an amazingly beautiful, bright bird. Lives in the Moluccas and Kai Islands. This is a graceful, slender parrot of brilliant red color (body feathers at the base are white). The primary wing feathers are black with red "mirrors", and the secondary ones are red with black tips. Large wing coverts (in the back area) - blue with black. The undertail and the stripe from it to the legs are black and blue. The brown eyes are surrounded by a strip of bluish-gray skin. The bill is dark orange in males and light orange in females. The latter have a slightly smaller head, more rounded and neat in shape. The length of the birds is about 30 centimeters. The scientific name (Eos) was given to the parrot in honor of the ancient Greek goddess of the morning dawn Eos (aka Aurora). Dark lori(Pseudeos fuscata) is widespread in New Guinea. This parrot was sold at the Moscow Bird Market in July this year. The main color of the plumage is olive brown, the bird is very beautiful. The beak is reddish orange. On the crown of the head there is a large straw-yellow spot. Around the neck there is a yellow-orange ribbon, along the chest there is a second such ribbon, but darker, more orange. The belly and thighs are red. The undertail is blue. In the mid-1980s, a dark loris lived in one of the enclosures of the Moscow Zoo, which "made friends" (or rather, formed a pair) with a red-headed arata, a completely unrelated parrot brought from South America. These loners were pushed towards rapprochement by the extraordinary sociability characteristic of any species of parrots. The birds spent all their time together, snuggled up and tenderly fingered each other's feathers. But they ate from different feeders: the aratinga nibbled the grains, and the loris lapped up a sweet mixture of honey and compote.

Sweet tooth and sluts

Hardly anyone will remain indifferent, looking at the loris parrots. But in our country, as in many others, these lovely birds- rare inhabitants of domestic zoo corners. They do not tolerate long-term transportation due to difficulties in feeding and a faster metabolism than other parrots. Two more circumstances hinder the wide distribution of lorikeets and lorises among amateurs. One is that lorises, like all birds that eat soft and wet food, have liquid droppings. The parrot quickly stains the bottom of the cage, the lattice, the perch, and sometimes the wall of the room closest to his dwelling. And not only with excrement, but also with food splashes. It is better to cover the metal or easily washable plastic tray of the cage with paper, pressing it on top with a coarse mesh (without it, the parrot will quickly tear the paper to shreds). You have to change this bedding daily. Some loris owners put a layer of coarse sawdust on the pallet.

Another negative circumstance: most lorises and lorikeets, if something bothers them, emit loud and piercing squeaky cries, which only the most patient bird lovers can endure.

The main component of the diet of red, broad-tailed and dark lorises is liquid porridge such as Baby-Papa, Baby-Mix, Frutolino, consisting of semolina, fruits, vitamins, wheat or rice flour in the form of flakes. It does not require boiling, it is simply diluted with hot water. A little sugar (preferably fruit), honey, fruit and carrot juices, rosehip syrup, any preserves made from homemade preparations (especially red and black currants rubbed with sugar) are added to the gruel. Here you can also add calcium gluconate and glycerophosphate powder, and once a week - one or two drops of a water-soluble multivitamin for birds. Condensed milk should not be included in the mixture, otherwise it will quickly sour.

To protect the bird from digestive upset during the hot season, it is recommended to give liquid feed in small portions two to three times a day.

Loris eat apples, pears, grapes, bananas, grapefruits, any garden berries well. They can be offered slices of boiled chicken, dried white bread soaked in sweet tea or a solution of honey, and soft food for insectivorous birds (grated carrots with finely chopped boiled eggs and chopped white breadcrumbs). In the spring, parrots are given branches of blossoming willow and fruit trees with opened buds, the first rosettes of a dandelion, and in summer, sweet heads of flowering clover and wood lice. Lorises have to get used to soaked grains of wheat and corn for a long time.

Multicolor lorikets quickly get used to grain feed (sunflower, oats, oatmeal, white canary seed), which eventually becomes the basis of the diet. But they, like all brush-tongued parrots, need to be given cereals, honey, fruits, juices.

The well-being of a bird largely depends on the size of its home and on how it is equipped. The ability to climb a variety of perches, ladders and trapezoids is even more important for these parrots than the ability to fly. In cramped conditions, lorises and lorikets feel oppressed.

Life in the wild and in the aviary

In their behavior and lifestyle, lorises are broadly similar to granivorous parrots of the same size. They live in pairs or flocks in forest areas. Dexterously climb the branches, using both paws and beak. They nest in the hollows of tall trees. Most species have only two eggs in a clutch.

All lorises are very fond of swimming. If it is not possible to provide them with a suitable bathing suit, you can gradually accustom the birds to spraying with a spray bottle.

Brush-tongued parrots living in spacious rooms can reproduce with good care and feeding. Their breeding has already been mastered in the USA and Western Europe. The easiest way to get offspring is from a multi-colored lorikete: it is enough to provide a couple with a large cage measuring 150 x 70 x 70 centimeters. The nest house is made of boards or plywood, its height is 45-50, the bottom area is 30 x 30, and the diameter of the taphole is 8-10 centimeters. More willingly, lorikeets and lorises inhabit hollow-tree nests from a hollow tree trunk. A 5-7 cm layer of peat mixed with sawdust is poured at the bottom of the nest. Birds love to spend the night in the house, so it should be cleaned more often.

The female lorikeet incubates eggs for 23-25 ​​days. Parents feed the chicks for 7-8 weeks, after which they leave the nest, and after another 2-3 weeks they begin to eat on their own.

Young lorikeets have a shorter tail than their parents, and the beak is not pure red. Captive-born multicolored lorikeets are tamed without problems and are well trained to "speak". This is how they differ from adults caught in nature. Unfortunately, it is adult lorikeets that can be purchased at the Bird Market. They are kept in pairs or groups. These birds have a calm disposition, so they get along well with cockatiels and budgerigars.

Parrots form a well-defined, species-rich group of birds, which most taxonomists distinguish as a separate order { Psittaciformes), containing only one family (Psittacidae). The family includes 320 living species that live mainly in the tropical zone, but there are species that live in the temperate zones. The Karolinska parrot, which was exterminated at the end of the last century, penetrated farthest to the north (up to 43 ° N), and the emerald parrot to the south of America.

Australia is the richest in parrots - half of the species (cockatoo, nymphs, wavy, etc.). Central and South America - one third of the species (Amazonian, macaw, etc.). There are relatively few of these birds in South Asia and Africa.

Parrots are mostly arboreal and are most abundantly represented in forests. However, there are quite a few parrots, especially among the long-tailed forms that live in open areas (for example, the Australian flat-tailed parrots). There are also species that live in mountainous areas, for example, the New Zealand kea lives above the forest belt in the mountains, reaching in places to the border of snow.

A characteristic feature parrots have a curved, thick and strong beak, which at first glance looks like the beak of an owl or diurnal birds of prey, but has a more complex structure and is very mobile. Both halves of the beak are strongly curved in parrots, and the upper beak is movably connected to the skull. Its tip forms a clearly visible hook. Unlike the beak of owls and daytime birds of prey, the beak of parrots is more rounded. The base of the beak is surrounded by a beak, in which the nostrils are located.

The structure of the tongue in parrots is very characteristic. In most species, it is thick, fleshy and short, with a horny covering at the end; others (for example, loris) have filiform papillae at the end.

The size of these birds is different. The largest of them (hyacinth arars) are about the size of a capercaillie, the smallest are about the size of a siskin.

Parrot legs with thick, calloused toes arranged in pairs, with two forward facing toes fused (partially or completely).

Parrots are great acrobats. They deftly climb trees, helping themselves with their beak and paws. On the ground, parrots, as a rule, walk awkwardly, waddling from side to side and leaning on their beak when walking. However, there are species (earthen and grass parrots) that run dexterously and a lot.

The wings of parrots are well developed: in steppe species they are large and pointed, in forest species they are wide and less pointed. Feathers with strong shafts and wide fans. The number of flight feathers is from 19 to 22, on average - 20. The second, third and fourth flight feathers of different lengths, depending on which the wing takes on a short or elongated shape.

The tail of parrots is cut from 12 tail feathers, the length and shape of which in different types unequal, therefore, the shape of the tail is different; in some species it is short, rounded or straight cut, in others it is long, wedge-shaped or stepped.

Some parrots have a long or short crest on their heads, and there is a species with a collar of feathers around the neck.

The plumage of parrots consists of small and large rigid, contoured feathers; the body is abundantly covered with gray-white down.

The color of the plumage in parrots is usually bright and variegated, the predominant color is grassy green. There are also species painted in one color: red, white, hyacinth, etc.

The male and female do not differ in color and plumage pattern in most species, but there are parrots (for example, nymphs), in which the male is colored brighter. In bicolor parrots, both sexes are brightly colored, but in different colors: the male has green plumage, the female has red.

Young birds differ slightly in color from adults: their plumage is less bright. Young birds, for example, in a gray parrot, get the color of adult birds at the age of about four years.

In nature, parrots use a variety of food, but the main one is plant food. They eat fruits, seeds, tubers and tender vegetative parts of plants. Beautiful and brightly colored lorises feed almost exclusively on nectar and pollen from flowers, diversifying their menu with juicy, soft fruits, tree sap, as well as insects that they find on flowers. Nosed cockatoo, kea and some other parrots dig roots, tubers, plant bulbs from the soil and eat insect larvae and pupae that come across. The raven cockatoo is of great benefit forestry, destroying wood beetles and their larvae. Woodpecker parrots, which are no larger than a siskin, eat the seeds of fig trees and drink the sweet woody sap that flows from the cracks in the trees. Local residents, knowing this "weakness" of birds, insert tubes into the bark of palm trees, through which the juice flows into suspended cups. Woodpecker parrots drink this juice with great pleasure, get drunk and fall asleep on the spot. In this state, the feathered drunks go to the sellers who sell them in the markets to bird lovers and sailors. This is how woodpecker parrots come to Europe and are kept in captivity.

The need for water different types unequal. Some (for example, nymphs) drink a little, but often, others - a lot, but less often. Parrots love to swim in water or rain on occasion. As soon as it starts raining, they climb to the top of a tree or bush and spread their wings to get properly wet. Captive parrots also love to swim. But many people do not like it when they are forcibly sprayed with cool water.

The ability of parrots to speak is well known, imitating human speech. This unique phenomenon, together with the bright color of the plumage and the extraordinary behavior of the tame parrot, is the reason for the great popularity of these birds among amateurs. Their ability to learn human speech depends on many reasons and primarily on the type and age of the parrot. The sooner they start teaching a parrot, the easier and more words it remembers. A talking parrot is able to expand his vocabulary regardless of age, if he has special abilities for this. The most capable of learning are gray and Amazonian parrots, cockatoos and arars. For a practical purpose, they are combined into an artificial group "Talking Parrots". However, among these species, not all have the same ability to imitate human speech, but there are more of them than among other species and groups of parrots.

03.08.2016 - 23:14

Animals can talk. Believe it or not, it’s true. Wordless (as we mistakenly call them) creatures (as we humiliatingly call them) are able to communicate perfectly both with each other and with us - the kings of nature. And it is not their fault that we do not understand this language. God knows - they are doing their best to convey their thoughts and feelings to us.

I told you: "Meow!"

They say that cats meow exclusively for humans. and among themselves they prefer to communicate in a different way. But what about the four-legged shaggy gossips to each other, we will not disassemble now - we will not get into the cat squabbles for now. Better yet, let's take an interest in those “words”, “gestures” and behavior of cats that are intended exclusively for us humans.

So let's get acquainted with the cat's "dictionary". A short, soft meow means an ordinary greeting. And if several "me ..." follow one another, it means that you are very welcome. A long and drawn out meow on a middle note is a request to do something, for example, to open a door. With the same sound, but at low tones, the cat usually expresses discontent, and at high tones, pain or fear. By purring - "the included motor" - the beast demonstrates pleasure, but sometimes it means that he is sick and is trying to calm himself. Meowing combined with purring - "pay attention to me!"

Sometimes the cat makes sounds similar to croaking. This happens in cases when the animal, for example, tries to catch a fly, but it fails or sees the birds outside the window, but the glass interferes with "getting to know" them better. And if the cat hisses, then it is going to defend itself from someone.

In addition to vocabulary, our furry friends make extensive use of sign language, where the tail plays the main role. If the tail is lifted up - "I'm fine", raised and vibrates - "glad to see you." By the way, only domestic cats allow themselves to lift their tails. Wild animals always carry it down or even sandwiched between their legs.

The tail is fluffy and raised near the base - "Fear me, I am angry!" And if it is lowered and sandwiched between its hind legs - "I'm scared!" An intense wagging of a cat's tail, unlike a dog, indicates an extreme degree of discontent. And if the cat slowly waves it from side to side, then he just thought about the choice: for example, go outside or sit at home in a warm place?

The cat rubs its cheek against you or your friends. This means showing sympathy. Thus, he marks “his own”. But if the beast in the presence of guests begins to rub only against you and the furniture, it means that he did not particularly like the guests, and thus he shows them who is the boss here.

A long rub all over the body from head to tail is a very gentle feline greeting.

If your pet sniffs your face, therefore, he has doubts: "Is this really you?" The subsequent "kiss" with a wet nose and the desire to hide your head under your chin or armpit is recognition and manifestation of love and affection.

"Milky step" - the cat "kneads" you with its paws, then releasing, then retracting its claws. This is what kittens do when they are going to suck their mother. If an animal does this to you, then this is the highest manifestation of love and a sense of comfort.

Well, if you are licked, it means that you are a recognized member of the feline family, or something delicious is left on you.

Business comes first

Here bees completely ignore us. And they got into this article only because quite recently scientists found out that bees (yes, those same yellow, striped, brainless insects) have their own rather complicated language for communicating exclusively with each other.

All their lives, bees have been doing the same thing, without thinking about where the honey they collected goes. By the way, if they suddenly think about it, and even find out the cause-and-effect relationship, then beekeeping will come to an end.

But that's not what we're talking about. Since ancient times, beekeepers have repeatedly observed the "dances" of bees, and initially it was not clear what it was: rest, warm-up, information transfer? And now it was possible to decipher this amazing code with the help of which the worker bees inform the others about the location of a new, rich source of food. If this source is located not far from the hive, then the bee makes simple circular movements, as if calling to fly after itself. If it is far from a meadow rich in flowers, then it begins to write out a more complex figure in front of the nest, vaguely resembling an eight, periodically wagging its abdomen. The number of these movements is somehow proportional to the distance to the object - here scientists have not really figured out yet - and the angle of inclination of the figure drawn in the air shows the direction relative to the sun. The smell with which the messenger is saturated indicates which flowers in the new area are worth visiting.

Did you say something?

But what we can really call a real, "human" language is the language of parrots.

Oddly enough, a parrot living in a house is able to keep silent about a lot, but at the same time tell that it is completely unsuitable for other people's ears. This feature is due to the fact that parrots best memorize words spoken with emotional uplift.

The most striking example is an event that took place in May 2002 in a British bird sanctuary. The spouses who worked in the reserve had to take a parrot home literally for one night. The whole evening the bird, dejected by the move, was silent, and towards night it allegedly fell asleep. But as soon as the parrot returned to the reserve in the morning, he opened his beak and began to speak without stopping for several hours. The theme for the bird's monologue was the intimate life of the unfortunate spouses. The parrot described the last night in detail, in faces, with all the necessary intonations. The husband and wife did not know where to hide their eyes from the employees and were ready to strangle the ungrateful witness of their love games. In the end, the parrot was isolated in a separate room until he forgot everything he saw.

Fortunately (for spouses), parrots have a short memory and if people do not repeat the words they have learned for a long time, then they are forgotten by the birds. It is much more interesting to teach a feathered friend to talk for a reason, but with a certain meaning. However, this will take time. If I show a parrot an object and at the same time pronounce its name loudly, then soon the bird will begin to react appropriately and correctly name objects and even comment on simple actions.

American scientists believe that parrots can not only memorize words and objects, but also manipulate concepts that are quite complex for animals. So, for example, the cockatoo Snowball, at the moment, carefree living in one of the bird shelters in the United States, knows how to ... dance. The former owner of the snowball told the scientists that at first the parrot imitated the movements of the children dancing in front of him, and then he himself began to move to the beat. As it turned out, his favorite tunes are performed by the Backstreet Boys, but he can just as well dance to Queen and Lady Gaga.

Observations have shown that the movements of the cockatoo are not accidental, and he really moves to the music. In any case, the way it can. Now scientists have to find out whether the parrot's "dances" correspond to its natural movements, for example, during the mating season, or whether it has developed some of its own movements. Why is this needed? It turns out that the ability of a bird to move its paws and head to a rhythm may shed light on the treatment of diseases such as Parkinson's disease with the help of music in humans.

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Subclass: Ornithurae, or Neornithes = Fan-tailed birds, new birds

Superorder: Neognathae = New sky birds, neognathae

Order: Psittaci, Psittaciformes = Parrots, parrots

Family: Psittacidae = Parrots, parrots

Subfamily: Psittrichasinae = Bristle-headed Parrots

PARROTS LORI

The representatives of the subfamily owe their modern name to the Dutch word "lori", which means "clown". And they called these parrots so for a reason. It's all about the color of their plumage. And the birds are painted brightly, brightly and juicy, as if they were specially dressed up for the carnival. But in reality, oddly enough, such a flashy coloring disguises a parrot feeding among the leaves and flowers. Variously colored plumage areas seem to divide the body into fragments.

And the representatives of the subfamily Loriinae (Loriinae), or brush-tongued ones, are distinguished from other species from the family of parrots by the special structure of the tongue. Unlike other parrots, which have a smooth skin on the tongue, the end and top of the tongue are covered with a kind of brush, consisting of leathery outgrowths. This structure of the brush allows parrots of the subfamily Loriaceae with its help to eat not only viscous, but also liquid food. They easily lick tree sap and tropical fruit sap, and drink the nectar of flowers.

In shape, the beak of Loriaceae is similar to that of all other seed-eating parrots, but in reality it is much weaker. Therefore, the loris parrot, sitting on the inflorescence of the plant, bites the flower and licks off the sweet liquid that is released. Moreover, it is covered with pollen from head to toe. The Loris' range, spanning Australia, New Guinea and a number of Pacific islands, is home to many trees and shrubs on which the Loris feed. They are strewn with such a huge number of flowers that parrots are simply not able to spoil them all. Therefore, along with insects, they contribute to the pollination of the flowers of these plants. Researchers do not exclude that birds and plants have adapted to each other for about thirty million years, eventually developing mutually beneficial connections.

Lori, feeding mainly on berries, fruits and nectar, diversify their menu with juicy flower petals, young leaves, and sometimes small insects and their larvae.

In the taxonomy of the subfamily, not everything is clear and simple. According to some authors, there are 58 species of loria parrots, according to other sources - about 70, which are part of 11 or 16 genera, respectively. Loria parrots in length can be from 18 to 40 centimeters. The smaller species, which have elongated wedge-shaped tails, belong to the lorikeet group. Lorikets are excellent flyers. Representatives of the genus Lorius have short and wide rounded tails and prefer to stay in the thick of tree crowns. Representatives of the genera Eos and Pseudeos have intermediate tails.

Loria parrots have few natural enemies, and the worst of them is snakes, in particular large tree pythons. For them, the protective coloration of parrots is not an obstacle - they find their victims not so much by the colors of the world around them, but by the movement and smell of a potential victim.

In domestic zoo corners, the most common multicolor, or rainbow, lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus), an inhabitant of multi-tiered tropical and eucalyptus forests. The range of this species is extensive: the north and east of Australia, the Moluccas, part of the Sunda Islands, the islands of New Guinea, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides and Bismarck archipelagos. In length, these birds reach 26-33 centimeters. The iris of the eyes is red, and in the female it is lighter, with an orange tint. The subspecies of the rainbow lorikete, and there are more than two dozen of them, differ among themselves in the peculiarities of the color of individual parts of the plumage.

Of the whole variety of subspecies of the rainbow or multicolored lorikete, two usually fall into Europe. The first subspecies, inhabiting the New Hebrides archipelago, has a dark blue head, a yellow neck stripe, a red chest area, the feathers of which have a black and blue border, a greenish belly, yellow with green stripes plumage of the tail and legs.

The second subspecies, the mountain multicolored lorikeet, which lives in nature in eastern Australia and Tasmania, is distinguished by a blue color of the abdomen, a greenish-yellow neck stripe, pure green shins and undertail, a red chest area, the sides of which are orange.

More rare parrots of the genus wide-tailed lorises, of which there are eight species. Of these, the yellow-mantled loris lives in the northern and middle Moluccas, the purple-capped loris in the southern ones, and the lady's loris in New Guinea and nearby small islands. They are all the size of a jackdaw, that is, about 30 centimeters in length. The beaks are orange-red, around the eyes there is a narrow gray ring of bare skin.