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Of all the animals only birds are covered with feathers., Smooth, fuzzy
or long, all of these feathers serve a different purpose.  Whether they
serve to keep the parrots warm or support them in flight, these
feathers are made up of very complex elements.. Any parrot's body is
covered by thousands of feathers that grow in feather tracks. Each one
of these feathers is attached to a muscle that parrots can maneuver to
achieve various feats. It is these very feathers that allow the parrots to
fly,,to fly far and to fly for days. It is these feathers which allow them to
fly at speeds reaching 40 mph, to hover over areas, and to land  safely
after soaring  to such great heights
parrot colouration

It is the colour of the parrots' feather has fascinated bird watchers most. The parrots\
plumage is brilliant and has  been judged to be anything ranging from beautiful to gaudy.
The green, red, blue, yellow and white bodies contrasting with red, yellow, blue heads,
wings or tails make for very colourful creatures. From the  white cockatoos with  their
yellow or scarlet crests ,the dark plumaged  great black or palm cockatoos to the macaws
who are named for their gaudy colours (ara macao, araauna),  they are all very striking  
and none can fail to be noticed.
In all species pigmentation normally accounts for colour.. Pigments are the melanins
and these are divided into 2 groups, namely the eumelanins  which account for the
dark brown and black colouring ,and the phaeomelanins which account for paler
browms all the way to the yellow colour.. But birds in general present a far wider
range of colours and thus melanins are not sufficient to account for the wide diversity
of colours found in birds
In parrots only eumelanin occurs and thus accounts for all the gray  black and browns
that parrots display. They also account for the greens, blues,and violets found in
certain parrot species. The other pigments occurring in parrots that accounts for all
the  bright yellows red and orange colours displayed by parrots  are not carotenoids  
(found in other birds)  but rather  a class of pigments  belonging strictly to parrots.
This class of pigments is known as psittacin.
Psittacin is the pigment that accounts  for the yellow, orange, and red colours found
in parrot plumage. These pigments are not the same as carotenoids  found in other
birds even though they are similar in colour. And even though  only two types of
pigment are found in parrots there is another element which enables parrots to
display just about every colour. There is what is called structural colours and these
are produced by  the structure of parrot feathers.. When the blue colouration,
mingles with  the yellow  colour it produces the brilliant greens often found in parrots.
 To produce the green colour typical  parrots all 3 elements must be present, namely
eumelanin, feather structure and psittacin.. It is believed that this green colour is so
prevalent among parrots that it must have played an important in their survival as a
species.
parrot feathers
parrot feathers
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