PARROT, RED/GREEN 7''

Fun Facts for Kids

• The name of this curious and intelligent bird is derived from Ancient Greek rhynchos ("beak") and psittakos ("parrot") and Greek pachy- ("thick") and rhynchos ("beak"), hence a "thick-beaked parrot".
• In Mexico, the Thick-billed parrot is locally called guacamaya ("macaw") or cotorra serrana ("mountain parrot").
• Thick-billed parrots manipulate their food by holding it with one foot.
• Thick-billed parrots may sometimes eat snow as a source of water.
• The thick bill of these parrots can break through almost any type of nut.
• Feeding on pine seeds is an art that adult Thick-billed parrots must teach their chicks. They start to shred the pinecone with their beak at the base and move to the top in a spiral fashion removing all the seeds carefully one by one.
• The Thick Billed Parrot is an endangered species.

The thick-billed parrot (Rhynchopsitta pachyrhyncha ) is a medium-sized parrot endemic to Mexico that formerly ranged into the southwestern United States. Its position in parrot phylogeny is the subject of ongoing discussion; it is sometimes referred to as thick-billed macaw or thick-billed conure. In Mexico, it is locally called guacamaya ("macaw") or cotorra serrana ("mountain parrot"). Classified internationally as Endangered through IUCN, the thick-billed parrot's decline has been central to multiple controversies over wildlife management. In 2018, the estimated wild population in Mexico was 1,700.