Parrots are the most colorful birds in the whole world. Their bodies are brilliant shades of red, green, yellow, blue, black and white. There are many different kinds of parrots with many different names. There are so many, it may seem confusing. But really there are three main kinds: (1.) the parrots and parakeets, (2.) the lories and lorikeets, and (3.) the cockatoos. These parrots come in many different sizes. The biggest parrots are the macaws. They can grow to up to 40 inches long. The pygmy parrots are the smallest and they may be as small as 4 inches long. Even though there are a lot of different parrots, you can recognize them easily by the shape of their body.

The parrot is the only bird who has feet with four toes, two pointing forward and two pointing backwards. All other birds have four toes, with three pointing forward and one pointing backward. This makes it much easier for parrots to climb trees. It also allows the parrot to hang upside down because of their strong feet and toes. The parrots can grip their food tightly with their toes and can bring it up to their beaks to help them eat. They use their feet like people use their hands.

The feathers of the parrot are as colorful as the flags of every country. The male and female parrots are both very colorful. This is unlike other bird species where usually the male is the most colorful. In most cases it is impossible to tell the difference between the male or female birds by their coloring.

There are over 300 different species of parrots in the world. Each species can be identified by the color of its feathers. These birds may have different names like macaw, cockatiel, cockatoo, lovebirds, parakeets, kea, lorie and budgie. Even with their brilliant colors, these birds are camouflaged in trees and bushes because they look like leaves, fruits or blossoms. A whole flock of parrots can land on a dead tree and make it look "alive". From a distance they look like leaves on a dead tree.

The head of the parrots may look very different. Most parrots don’t have feathers around their eyes. Some have a crown called a crest that sticks up above their head. They can raise their head feathers up and down whenever they want to. Some cockatiels raise their feathers when they beg for food. Cockatiels, Cockatoos and the Black Cockatoo have crests on their heads.

All parrots’ beaks are hooked bills. Different kinds of parrots need different types of hooks for the different kinds of food they eat. Some dig up roots so they have bills like shovels. Some parrots’ beaks are like a knife. They use it to scrape seeds out of pods. Others have bills that can crush nuts open. Some have weak bills so they eat stuff they don’t have to crack open. They drink nectar like a hummingbird and their tongues look like they have a tiny brush at the end of it.