A photographer using color film or an artist with a good selection of bright colors will always find parrots interesting subjects.
The parrot called rainbow lorikeet is a good example of one with many bright colors - red, blue, green and orange all blending so beautifully. This one lives in Australia and, contrary to the appetites of most parrots, its food is mainly soft fruit and nectar from plants and trees rather than nuts and seeds.
The blue-naped variety of the Philippines is another very colorful one. The head feathers behind its reddish beak are a brilliant green, with a large patch of blue on its neck (which is how it got its name). The rest of its body feathers are a combination of light green, blue, yellow and black -very pretty.
The country of Peru has an abundance of macaws, which are the largest type of parrot. These have large yellow beaks, which are conspicuous because the head, throat, neck and shoulders are all bright red. The wings are orange and the body is a brilliant blue. Another feature of macaws is their long, pointed tails which have a blend of green and red feathers - strikingly beautiful birds.
The blue and gold macaw, also of Peru, is well-named. It has bright blue top feathers, and its neck is yellowish-gold in back but black in the front. Its white round face has a small, sharp, black beak.
Another part of this family lives in nearby Brazil. It is the well-named scarlet macaw. With the exception of a few blue spots, its entire body is a display of brilliant scarlet feathers, including its wings and tail.
The red-spectacled parrot also lives in Brazil. Its name comes from a wide band of crimson-red across the top of its head that also surrounds its eyes. It has a short tail, mostly deep green in color and red on parts of its wings. It is noted for its exceptionally long, strong claws.
If you have a parrot in your home or schoolroom, you may say, “Our parrot isn’t colored like any of those!” That’s an interesting feature of these birds—the Creator has given us such a great variety of parrots that it would be difficult to try to describe them all.
They remind us again of the splendor of God’s creation. And not only has He created them, but the Bible tells us that He watches over them at all times. Do you know that He watches over you with an even greater care? He invites you to “trust . . . in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:44Trust ye in the Lord for ever: for in the Lord JEHOVAH is everlasting strength: (Isaiah 26:4)). Is He your Saviour?
ML-05/23/2004