Wonders of
GOD’S Creation
Polly Want a Pandemonium Parrots—the birds with some of the most versatile voices in the world—don’t have vocal cords. Instead, they contract or relax their throat muscles and expel air over their windpipes. There are more than 350 species of parrot, but when it comes to imitation of human voices, the African gray parrot is the undisputed champ. (African grays have also been known to replicate sci-fi sound effects, among other things.) Parrots have incredibly powerful beaks capable of exerting almost as much pressure per square inch as the mouth of a large dog. Unlike humans (and most other birds), parrots have a hinged lower and upper jaw, allowing them to generate that extra pressure.
LifeHopeandTruth.com
Their bills are also lined with touch receptors, allowing them to manipulate foods like nuts with a great deal of dexterity before cracking them open. A group of parrots is called a pandemonium. That’s not a particularly important piece of information, but it is hilarious. Pictured: red-tailed black cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus banksii) Photo by James Capo Text by James Capo and Jeremy Lallier
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