Editing True parrot (section)

==Overview==
{{Unreferenced section|date=January 2014}}
True parrots have a [[beak]] with a characteristic curved shape, the [[jaw]] with a mobility slightly higher than where it connects with the skull, and a generally upright position. They also have a large cranial capacity and are one of the most intelligent bird groups. They are good fliers and skillful climbers on branches of trees.

Some species can [[Talking bird|imitate the human voice]] and other sounds, although they do not have vocal cords, instead possessing a vocal organ at the base of the [[Vertebrate trachea|trachea]] known as the [[Syrinx (bird anatomy)|syrinx]].<ref name="Vocal-Tract Filtering by Lingual Articulation in a Parrot">{{cite journal |last1=Beckers |first1=Gabriël J.L. |last2=Nelson |first2=Brian S. |last3=Suthers |first3=Roderick A. |title=Vocal-Tract Filtering by Lingual Articulation in a Parrot |journal=Current Biology |date=7 September 2004 |volume=14 |issue=17 |pages=1592-1597 |pmid=15341748 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982204006190 |access-date=13 April 2024}}</ref>

Like most parrots, the Psittacidae are primarily seed eaters. Some variation is seen in the diet of individual species, with fruits, nuts, leaves, and even insects and other animal prey being taken on occasion by some species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Barnett |first=Adrian A. |last2=Todd |first2=Lucy M. |last3=de Oliveira |first3=Tadeu G. |date=2018 |title=Leaf-slicing behavior in the Blue-headed Parrot (Pionus menstruus) in central Amazonia is likely linked to highly selective caterpillar predation |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26875971 |journal=The Wilson Journal of Ornithology |volume=130 |issue=3 |pages=809–813 |issn=1559-4491}}</ref> The lorikeets are predominantly [[nectar]] feeders;<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Frankel |first=T. L. |last2=Avram |first2=D. |date=2001 |title=Protein requirements of rainbow lorikeets, Trichoglossus haematodus |url=http://www.publish.csiro.au/?paper=ZO01005 |journal=Australian Journal of Zoology |language=en |volume=49 |issue=4 |pages=425 |doi=10.1071/ZO01005 |issn=0004-959X|url-access=subscription }}</ref> many other parrots drink nectar, as well.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Schweizer |first=Manuel |last2=Güntert |first2=Marcel |last3=Seehausen |first3=Ole |last4=Leuenberger |first4=Christoph |last5=Hertwig |first5=Stefan T. |date=2014 |title=Parallel adaptations to nectarivory in parrots, key innovations and the diversification of the L oriinae |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.1131 |journal=Ecology and Evolution |language=en |volume=4 |issue=14 |pages=2867–2883 |doi=10.1002/ece3.1131 |issn=2045-7758 |pmc=4130445 |pmid=25165525}}</ref> Most Psittacidae are cavity-nesting birds which form monogamous pair bonds.

=== Evolution ===
It is believed that the breakup of the final remnants of Gondwana, when [[South America]] drifted away from [[Antarctica]] and [[Australia]] at the end of the Eocene, kickstarted the separate radiations of psittacids in South America and psittaculids in [[Australasia]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Selvatti |first=Alexandre Pedro |last2=Galvão |first2=Ana |last3=Mayr |first3=Gerald |last4=Miyaki |first4=Cristina Yumi |last5=Russo |first5=Claudia Augusta de Moraes |date=21 August 2022 |title=Southern hemisphere tectonics in the Cenozoic shaped the pantropical distribution of parrots and passerines |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jbi.14466 |journal=[[Journal of Biogeography]] |language=en |volume=49 |issue=10 |pages=1753–1766 |doi=10.1111/jbi.14466 |issn=0305-0270 |access-date=4 March 2025 |via=Wiley Online Library|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===Distribution and habitat===
The true parrots are distributed throughout the tropical and subtropical regions of the world, mostly in the [[Southern Hemisphere]], covering many different [[habitat]]s, from the humid tropical [[forest]]s to [[desert]]s in [[Australia]], [[India]], [[Southeast Asia]], [[sub-Saharan Africa]], [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]], and two species, one extinct (the [[Conuropsis carolinensis|Carolina parakeet]]), formerly in the United States. However, the larger populations are native to [[Australasia]], [[South America]], and [[Central America]].