Long John Silver has a parrot, named Captain Flint in honor (or mockery) of his former captain. Silver uses Captain Flint as a means of gaining young Jim's trust, by telling the boy all manner of exciting stories about the parrot's buccaneer history. "Now that bird," Silver says, "is maybe two hundred years old, Hawkins--they lives forever mostly, and if anybody's seen more wickedness it must be the devil himself."

Hatebeak is an American death metal band featuring Waldo, a grey parrot. Hatebeak is reported to be the first band to have an avian vocalist. The band's sound has been described as "a jackhammer being ground in a compactor." They never tour so as to not torture the bird.

In New Zealand, the native kea (Nestor notabilis) were first observed attacking and killing sheep in 1868 and were persecuted as sheep-killers until 1986, when they received full protection under the Wildlife Act.

Baby parrots are called chicks until they are almost ready to fly. Then they are called fledglings.

The eggs of parrots are white. In most species, the female undertakes all the incubation, although incubation is shared in cockatoos, the blue lorikeet, and the vernal hanging parrot.

Like most other birds, parrots have four toes per foot. But instead of the usual three-in-front-one-behind arrangement, parrot toes are configured for maximum grip: two in front and two behind, like two pairs of opposable thumbs.

Though parrots do have some taste glands at the backs of their throats, most of their 300 or so taste buds are located on the roofs of their mouths. Compared with the 10,000 taste buds in a human mouth, the birds' palate may not seem like much, but parrots do show definite preferences for certain foods.

Almost 50% of all parrot species are endangered and almost 25% of the species are critically endangered. The main reasons for this are persistent habitat destruction, such as land clearance with fire or settlement, and the continuing trade in birds, which still offers wild-caught stock.