--- title: Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long lives — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long lives», a lesson of the biology course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: Parrots are some of the cleverest birds on Earth, and they live in groups where every bird must learn the sounds of its flock --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/) / Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long… # Parrots: talkers, nutcrackers and long lives Lesson 206 of the biology course of Mova's primary school: 15 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/0/) — Parrots are some of the cleverest birds on Earth, and they live in groups where every bird must learn the sounds of its flock. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/1/) — That is why a pet African grey may say «hello» the moment the phone rings: it has learned that the ring and the word go together, the way you learn the tune of the school bell. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/2/) — Parrots make their sounds with a voice organ deep in the chest, and their brains have a special area for learning new sounds, which most birds do not have. - [3](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/3/) — A parrot's hooked beak is a nutcracker, a spoon and a third foot all at once, and a big parrot can live sixty years or more, so a parrot may outlive the person who bought it. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/4/) — Parrots copy sounds using a voice organ in the chest and a brain area for learning sounds; a famous African grey called Alex learned words for colours, shapes and numbers. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/5/) — Whether parrots understand what they say is still argued; Alex seemed to use some words with meaning, but most pet parrots copy sounds they hear often. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/6/) — A parrot's hooked beak and strong jaw crack hard nuts and seeds, and big macaws open nuts that people need a hammer for. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/7/) — Parrots climb with their beak as a third foot, and their feet have two toes pointing forward and two back, so they can grip branches and hold food like a hand. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/9/) — A parrot that is bored, lonely or stressed may pull out its own feathers; parrots need company, toys and puzzles every day. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/10/) — Real sailors did bring parrots home from tropical voyages, but catching wild parrots for pets is now restricted to protect them. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/12/) — In the Amazon, hundreds of macaws gather at river banks to eat clay, which may give them salt and help with harsh chemicals in some seeds; scientists still argue which reason matters most. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/13/) — Spix's macaw, the blue parrot of the film Rio, almost vanished from the wild, and some zoo-bred birds have been released in Brazil, it was reported. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/14/) — The kea is a curious mountain parrot from New Zealand that solves problems, steals food and sometimes pulls rubber off cars. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/15/) — Many parrots bond strongly with one person and may bite strangers when nervous or jealous; pinned eyes (the dark centres shrinking to tiny dots), raised feathers and an open beak are warnings. - [16](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/206-parrots-talkers-nutcrackers-and-long-lives/16/) — Some parrots move in time to a beat, and a cockatoo called Snowball became famous for dancing; keeping to a beat is rare in animals. - ← previous: [Budgies and canaries](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/205-budgies-and-canaries/) - next →: [Horses and ponies: how they eat, see, sleep and live in herds](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/207-horses-and-ponies-how-they-eat-see-sleep-and-live-in-herds/) - ↑ back to [Biology](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/)