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A flock of peach-fronted parakeets in flight

True parrots

The true parrot family includes among its many members the macaws, lorikeets and lovebirds. Species in this family eat mostly seeds, though fruit, nuts and other foods are also consumed.

Scientific name: Psittacidae

Rank: Family

Distribution

Map showing the distribution of the True parrots taxa

The shading illustrates the diversity of this group - the darker the colour the greater the number of species. Data provided by WWF's Wildfinder.

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When they lived

Discover the other animals and plants that lived during the following geological time periods.

About

The true parrots are about 330 species of bird belonging to the superfamily Psittacoidea, one of the three superfamilies in the biological order Psittaciformes (parrots). The others superfamilies are the Cacatuoidea (cockatoos) and New Zealand Strigopoidea which are also parrots, but not classified as true parrots. True parrots are more widespread than cockatoos, with species in the Americas, Africa, Asia, Australia and eastwards across the Pacific Ocean as far as Polynesia.

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Classification

  1. Life
  2. Animals
  3. Vertebrates
  4. Birds
  5. Parrots
  6. True parrots

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