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# Parrot (family)

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A parrot is any of the many birds belonging to the family Psittacidae. They have a characteristic curved beak shape and generally an erect stance. All parrots are zygodactyl[?], having the four toes on each foot placed two at the front and two back.

Several species can imitate speech, and at least one, Irene Pepperberg[?]'s African gray parrot Alex[?], has been trained to use words to identify objects. Other kinds of parrot are the several species of macaw, and the Kea.

Birds of the parrot family can be found in most of the warmer parts of the world, including India, South East Asia and West Africa, with one species, now extinct, in the United States (the Carolina Parakeet). By far the greatest number of parrot species, however, come from Australasia, South America and Central America.

Along with the cockatoo family (the Cacatuidae), the parrot family makes up the order Psittaciformes. Confusingly, the term parrot can be used in either the broad or the narrow sense. See Parrot (order).

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