31 May: World Parrot Day

Today is World Parrot Day, 10 things you might not know about parrots:

1. Parrots belong to the order Psittaciformes and there are about 393 species.

2. They range in size from the buff-faced pygmy, which weighs just one ounce and is about the size of an adult human’s finger, to the kakapo, an endangered parrot from New Zealand which can weigh as much as 9lb, about the same as a domestic cat, and grow to over two feet in length. The kakapo is the only member of the parrot family which can’t fly, and is also the only nocturnal parrot.

3. They have four toes on each foot as do most birds, but the toes are arranged differently. Most birds have three-in-front-one-behind; parrots have two in front and two behind. This not only helps them hold on to a perch, but allows them to hold food up to their beaks in order to eat. Parrots are the only bird able to do this.

4. Parrots are known for their ability to talk and mimic sounds, but they don’t have vocal chords. They make sounds by expelling air across the mouth of the trachea in an organ called the syrinx. Different sounds are produced by changing the depth and shape of the trachea.

5. They’re also highly intelligent. A parrot named Puck could recognise 1,728 words, netting him a place in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1995. According to scientists, parrots have the reasoning ability of a three or four year old human child, and some have even been able to answer correctly questions like, “How many red squares are there?” and understand the concept of zero. They can even be taught to sing. An Amazon parrot named Groucho was trained to sing “How Much is that Doggie in the Window” on TV in 2010. However, Groucho’s achievement pales beside that of a parrot called Waldo from Maryland, who is actually the lead singer of a death metal band called Hatebeak. Waldo and his human band mates have released songs with titles like “Beak of Purification,” and “Birdseeds of Vengeance.” When Waldo refuses to perform, his band mates can usually persuade him with his favourite treat of dried Bananas.

6. A group of parrots is called a pandemonium.

7. Parrots have been popular pets since ancient times and have featured in human stories, religion and music for thousands of years. For example, Aesop's fable "The parrot and the cat". In more recent times, there’s Captain Flint, the pet of pirate Long John Silver in Treasure Island. The association of parrots and pirates owes its existence to this novel. Even more recently there is the nameless “Norwegian Blue” (this breed doesn’t actually exist) from Monty Python’s Dead Parrot sketch.

8. The phrase, “Sick as a parrot”, meaning extremely disappointed, may have originated from a disease called psittacosis, which can be passed to humans from parrots.

9. Parrots taste with the roof of their mouth. Most of their 300 or so taste buds are located there.

10. Dominica has a parrot on its flag and two on its coat of arms. The St. Vincent parrot is the national bird of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Character birthday

Vortex, aka Gabrielle Marx. She lives in the Infinitus dimension. Her powers are Flight; air manipulation and night vision. Her mother, Elena, is from Classica and therefore did not have the contraceptive implant all Innovians have, including her husband, Leonard. Gabrielle was born from a brief affair Elena had with a man who’d had his implant removed in order to have a family. Both assumed the other was protected. Leonard Marx found it hard to accept Gabrielle at first, despite knowing he would not be given permission to have his implant removed to have a child with Elena because of her Classican origins, so Gabrielle was the only family he was likely to have. In time, though, he grew to love her as his own.

Gabrielle wasn't born with powers, but grew up with Wulf and Bluebird's twins, Elliott and Tilly. Elliott had powers but Tilly did not. Both girls envied Elliott's powers and eventually decided to trick their way to Portal Island and the wormhole in order to travel through it and get powers.