We grow up hearing about parrots and seeing them in pictures and in aviaries. We've seen them so often that we feel we know quite a bit about these beautiful birds. When it really comes down to it though, if you are parrot owner you may find that there are gaps in your knowledge. A good place to start is by educating yourself about parrot anatomy.
A certain basic amount of information will make it possible for you to be a responsible pet owner who can be on the look-out for signs of discomfort, illness or disease. If you do not know how your bird is supposed to look when normal, it will be hard for you to gauge when things are not normal.
Parrot anatomy, as we can observe, is fairly varied between the various species in terms of size and color. And while there are cosmetic differences, they do have the body structure common to all birds.
As we all know, birds are distinctly different from every other species on earth - they can fly. Wings, which enable flight, are actually made up of a series of tiny bones that closely resemble the bones in the human arm in terms of structure.
On top of this there are the different layers of feathers such as the Primary Flight Feathers, the Secondaries, the Main and Lesser Coverts, the Tertials, and the Alula which all play a critical part when a parrot is in flight. The tail feather serves as a rudder in a bird's flight by helping it adjust its direction.
The other distinctive thing about birds is their beaks. In the case of parrots it is the hooked beak. Beaks are seen as an extension of the bird's jawbone and it is covered with keratin which is the substance that provides the hardness of human nails.
Beaks serve many purposes for a parrot. They are tools for eating, for feeding young ones, to attack aggressors and for generally exploring the world around them.
Pet owners should remember that parrot beaks are tough enough to crack hard nuts and to make a dent on trees when positioning the parrot cage, so that some favorite piece of furniture or unique curio does not become a victim to your exploring pet. The top end of the beak is where you will find the cere and this is the location of the parrot's nostrils or nare.
Another interesting element in a parrot anatomy is the crop which is an enlarged section of the esophagus. It is located below the beak and is a sac where the food the parrot eats is stored until the actual process of digestion starts.
Feathers and the beak tend to hide the crop from easy visibility. Sometimes new parrot owners tend to worry about it's normalcy when they feel the hardened crop of the bird. It can easily be mistaken for some abnormal growth when the crop is filled with food.
Even among birds, the parrot is known for its unusual feet. They have four toes like other birds but while most birds have three toes pointing forward and one pointing backwards, parrots have two facing each direction. This enables them to have a better grasp on many objects.
When eating, they tend to hold the food item with the two forward facing toes and one back facing toe and they use their beak to peck. This is indicative of the additional flexibility that a parrot gets from this unique anatomical feature.
Experts compare it to the advantages that humans have with the opposing thumb. Another interesting detail about the feet of birds is that they are covered with a tougher skin than the rest of the body to help them weather the long periods of time that birds spend perching.
Now let us move on to some of the internal aspects of parrot anatomy. Many of the internal organs that you find in birds and humans, such as the heart, the brain or the liver, serve the same function. They do differ in size and in how they are positioned in the body.
The spinal cord is an important part of the parrot's nervous system and helps the brain and the rest of the body communicate. The spinal cord runs along the back of the bird and is protected by the spinal column.
The parrot's respiratory system works much like a human being's in that the bird takes in air through its nostrils or nares and the trachea is the tube that transports this to the lungs. The lungs effectively send this out to the bird's blood stream.
Parrot's digestive system involves the esophagus, again an organ in common with humans, which transports the food from the mouth to the crop, mentioned above. The crop is actually several layers of muscle tissue and while the food is stored here it is softened before it reaches the gizzard.
The gizzard contains roughage and the tough muscle tissue of the organ enables it to grind down the food to make it into a pulp. In this form, the food is ready for the parrot's intestines. The food is digested here as the nutrients needed by the body are drawn out.
Next, the waste is sent to the rectum. Parrots process the liquids they consume through the kidneys, which again absorb what is needed for the body and filter out the waste.
This has been a brief overview of the external and internal highlights of parrot anatomy.
Tags : Casual Tall
No comments:
Post a Comment