World Parrot Day

Animal Awareness Days

Join us in celebrating World Parrot Day - a special occasion to honour these vibrant, intelligent birds.

Explore the remarkable world of parrots, uncover the serious threats they face, and learn how you can take meaningful action to protect them and their wild habitats.

About World Parrot Day

If you’ve not seen World Parrot Day before, now’s the perfect time to get acquainted. Held annually, this awareness day is dedicated to recognising the incredible beauty, diversity, and intelligence of parrots. From the chatty African grey to the colourful macaw, parrots are among the most captivating birds on the planet.

But World Parrot Day is more than admiration—it's a global call to action. Parrots face numerous threats in the wild and captivity, and it is a powerful reminder of the urgent need to protect them.

When is World Parrot Day?

World Parrot Day (also known as Parrot Day or International Parrot Day) is held on the 31st of May every year.

What is International Parrot Day?

International Parrot Day, also known as World Parrot Day, was established in 2004 and is celebrated annually. It offers a global platform to appreciate the beauty, intelligence, and incredible diversity of parrots—from brilliant macaws to clever cockatoos.

More importantly, the day serves as a call to action. It raises awareness about the many threats parrots face in the wild and captivity, including habitat loss, illegal wildlife trade, and the cruelty of being kept as exotic pets.

7 facts about parrots

There are more than 350 parrot species. These include parakeets, macaws, cockatiels, and cockatoos.
The smallest parrot is the buff-faced pygmy parrot. It weighs around 10-15 grams and is around 8.5 centimetres long. The largest parrot is the hyacinth macaw, which measures 90-100 centimetres.
Parrots are long-lived. Kakapos can live for up to 95 years, scarlet macaws live for 40-50 years, and African grey parrots can live up to 50 years in the wild.
Parrots are sentient beings who communicate with one another through their tail feathers and voices. Some blush to show their emotions, and they can also mimic other animals, including humans.
Parrots are very clever. Researchers have shown that African greys have the cognitive skills of a five-year-old child.
African grey parrots fly several miles every day in the wild. When kept as pets, these beautiful creatures are often cruelly confined in small, caged spaces.
Parrots kept as pets often behave abnormally. They may pluck out their own feathers due to stress, boredom, and a lack of socialisation with other parrots.

Parrots are wild animals, not pets

Many parrot species — including the grey parrot, the Amazon parrot, and the red-fronted macaw — are now endangered. In the wild, their habitats are increasingly threatened by deforestation, much of it driven by the expansion of large-scale agriculture and factory farming. As forests are cleared for animal feed crops and grazing land, parrots lose their homes and food sources. This sometimes forces them to forage in farmers’ fields, where they are often persecuted as pests.

One of the greatest threats to parrots is the exotic pet trade. They are poached because of their beautiful appearance and, in the case of some species, like the African grey parrot, their ability to mimic human speech.

Once taken from the wild, pet parrots are kept in cruel conditions. Their flight feathers are often chopped off to stop them from escaping. Many birds don’t survive captivity, or even the journey. 66% of African grey parrots die in transit.

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How to celebrate World Parrot Day

To celebrate World Parrot Day, do your bit to protect these magnificent birds. Here’s what you can do:

Be mindful that keeping a parrot as a pet is cruel. Call for an end to the exotic pet trade to protect parrots and other wildlife.
Raise awareness of the exploitation of wild animals and their entrapment for the exotic pet trade. Share your knowledge about animal cruelty and protection.
Push for the strongest, most effective protection for parrots, other animals, and their natural habitats.
Join our campaigns to push organisations and governments to safeguard animals and their habitats.
Eat fewer animal products, and choose more high-welfare and plant-based options. Transforming our global food systems can help protect the habitats of parrots and countless other wild species
Sign up for our newsletter to discover more ways to help parrots and other wildlife.

Many animals need your help. Find out about other animal awareness days.

Frequently Asked Questions About Parrots

Do parrots sleep during the day?

In the wild, parrots sleep just before sunset and wake up at dawn. They sleep for 12 hours at night and are awake for 12 hours during the day.

How far can a parrot fly in one day?

Cockatoos and macaws can travel tens of kilometres every day. Orange-bellied parrots migrate from mainland Australia to Tasmania, flying with just one stop across the 300-kilometre route.

How much do parrots eat a day?

Parrots eat fruit, flowers, seeds, berries, nuts, and small insects. They use their powerful beaks to snap open nutshells and their strong tongues to scoop out the seeds inside.

How much water do parrots drink in a day?

An adult parrot needs to drink around 5% of its body weight every day.

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