A living project · Always under construction
The Parrots’ Project gathers what people have recorded about parrots (scientific papers, veterinary case reports, avicultural journals, photographs, and field and citizen-science observations) into one library. Each record keeps its original source and context, so students, researchers, veterinarians, and caregivers can study questions such as what parrots eat in the wild and in human care.
Our long-term goal is to bring together knowledge about all aspects of parrots. Diet and nutrition are our main starting point and the focus of our current research, beginning with a university student study of cockatoo diets. Our library and knowledge graphs already reach beyond that focus, connecting sources on many other aspects of parrot life.
Work by others is credited and linked to its original source. Organizations and people mentioned here are not endorsing or partnering with the project unless we say so.
Our story
Scroll through the preview, then select “Read the full story” at the end.
The Parrots Project began with a discarded National Geographic magazine.
I was about twelve, growing up in Alaska. My mother brought home old magazines that the library was discarding. Their worn pages opened windows into places far beyond the cold and isolation around me.
One afternoon, I opened a magazine and found photographs of macaws eating clay along Peru’s Tambopata River. There was a blue-and-gold macaw, and hundreds of parrots gathered against reddish-orange riverbanks, surrounded by rainforest.
I wanted to know why.
Why would parrots eat clay? What brought them to that particular place? What was happening in those photographs that I could not yet understand?
That became one of the first scientific questions that felt like mine. I remember thinking, “I am going to be a parrot scientist.” Within the following year, I was saying that I would earn a PhD studying parrots.
I could not have known how long that journey would take, how difficult parts of it would become, or how many people and birds would help shape it. That question gave me a direction.
My education eventually took me through the University of Oregon and to Texas A&M University, where I earned my PhD in Biomedical Sciences in 2022 and continued into postdoctoral research. Over more than twenty years working with parrots, my interests expanded into their behavior, nutrition, health, reproduction, cognition, and relationships with their environments.
Parrots became part of my daily life as well as my scientific work. The more I learned, the more questions I had.
The beginnings of The Parrots Project took shape through another encounter with that original question.
Read the full storyIn memory of TacoBell, a crazy little Monk Parakeet whom I often feel I failed, and who inspires me every day to do just a little bit better.
Explore National Geographic’s magazine archive Select January 1994. Archive access may require a subscription.
The Library & Archive
The library is where the research begins. The cockatoo project started by searching it for every reference to cockatoo diets.
Parrot books, avicultural journals dating back to the early 1900s, society bulletins, veterinary case reports, peer-reviewed literature, and photographs. The collection is growing and is used for project research. It is not yet open to visitors.
Items that are not available elsewhere online are being digitized, beginning with sources used in the cockatoo project. Scans are held as part of the lab’s research collection and are not distributed, though copies are provided to the original publishers on request where possible. We share what the research draws from them: citations, extracted records, and findings, each traced back to its original source.
A catalog that records each item’s origin, date, location, permissions, and context, so information stays traceable to its original record.
Explore publications & historical archives →
We welcome conversations about a permanent home and long-term support for the collection.
Start a conversation about the collectionHow we work
Every record carries a citation to where it came from, so anyone can check the original.
Whether a bird was wild or in human care, where and when it was observed, and how the information was reported remain part of the record.
When sources disagree, both reports can be kept and labeled. Disagreements are often where the useful questions are.
A field observation, a captive diet record, a controlled experiment, and a secondhand account carry different weight, and records say which they are.
We intend to explore AI tools to help find and link records across the library. People will review the results, and every connection will trace back to its sources. We have not chosen specific tools or methods. The methodology will be documented as the project develops.
Content is provided for education and research. For advice about an individual bird’s health or care, consult an avian veterinarian.
Research already underway · Featured student project
During the fall 2025 semester, undergraduate students at Texas A&M University and Saint Xavier University searched the project library for every reference to the diets of the 21 species in the cockatoo family (Cacatuidae), and digitized materials that were not otherwise available online. The sources include avicultural journals, veterinary case reports, peer-reviewed literature, citizen-science records, and photographic collections, published between 1949 and 2025.
For each report of a cockatoo eating something, the students recorded the species, whether the bird was wild, feral, or in captivity, the location, the season, and the food item, identified down to family, genus, or species where the source allowed. All 21 species, across seven genera, appear in at least one record.
See which cockatoo species still lack diet research →
The figures on this page are preliminary results from the students’ research poster. Data collection is continuing. The next additions are photographs from wildlife photographers and citizen scientists, which will help clarify dietary patterns.
Research poster
Jenna Henry and Ella Rydell (Texas A&M University), with Jason Crean, MS Bio, EdD and Tatiana Tatum, PhD (Saint Xavier University, Department of Biological Sciences) and EV Voltura, PhD (Texas A&M University, Schubot Center for Avian Health, Department of Veterinary Pathobiology).
Featured student project
During her time working with us, Ella Rydell helped document historical avicultural publications through her project, Sustaining Psittacine Research in Aviculture through Digital Preservation of Physical Media, mentored by Dr. EV Voltura.
Her project focused on the Avicultural Society of America’s Avicultural Bulletin, using physical materials generously donated by ASA and John York in 2025 and 2026.
Ella cataloged 480 bulletin issues across 48 publication years, documenting 508 physical copies including duplicates. She organized holdings by year and month, identified gaps and duplicate copies, and recorded the birds depicted on bulletin covers.
A preliminary review of her cover inventory identifies at least 80 parrot species, including macaws, cockatoos, Amazons, lories, lorikeets, conures, and smaller parrots. Historical names and uncertain identifications remain under review. Repeated appearances, color varieties, and hybrids are not counted as additional species.
Examples include a Chattering Lory in March 1970, a Spix’s Macaw in September 1991 and May 1995, and a Rainbow Lory in April 1992. The covers also depict finches, pheasants, toucans, waterfowl, and other birds, capturing the breadth of the avicultural community’s interests.
Her inventories reach back to 1931, with particularly extensive holdings from 1961 through 2000. They provide a foundation for locating missing issues, organizing scans, and connecting publications with searchable bibliographic records.
These bulletins preserve practical observations, research, artwork, and the experiences of generations of bird keepers. Ella’s project also considered how decisions about what gets preserved shape the history available to future generations.
Scanning is in progress. Copies of the scanned bulletins are being provided to the Avicultural Society of America, and any public access to them will come through ASA. Keep an eye on ASA’s website and announcements.
The Avicultural Bulletin exists because ASA members keep it going. Support the society that has shared avicultural knowledge for generations by becoming a member.
Become an ASA memberElla has since graduated. Congratulations, Ella, and thank you for helping preserve this knowledge for the people and parrots who come after us!
Featured student project
Research taken on and led by James Guo, with contributions from undergraduate researchers. As part of The Parrots’ Project, James has taken on the work of identifying, documenting, and interpreting multilingual parrot species names, beginning with Simplified and Traditional Chinese nomenclature. His approach provided a foundation that other undergraduate researchers subsequently expanded to include Hindi and Korean.
The collection brings together scientific names, historical taxonomic synonyms, and names across languages, preserving their original scripts. The supplied Chinese, Hindi and Korean names are native-speaker translations verified by undergraduate students. Individual student contributions are credited where known.
Names may differ by region or reflect historical classifications. The supplied Chinese, Hindi and Korean translations were verified by undergraduate native speakers. Translation verification and evidence of established regional usage are recorded separately. Established names may also be found in regional sources, local traditions, or materials we have not yet explored. We welcome help from speakers and communities in finding and understanding them.
The developing collection distinguishes documented common names, verified native-speaker translations, proposed direct translations, and unverified names. By connecting names across languages and taxonomic systems, this work helps make scientific, historical, and practical knowledge about parrots easier to discover.
Visit Species → Names & Taxonomy, explore the working-table excerpt, or see the Black-capped Lory working names. Independent references include Cornell Birds of the World, Avibase, iNaturalist, IUCN/BirdLife, and World Parrot Trust.
Native speakers, regional experts, and local communities are welcome to share names and sources. Please include the language and region where possible, respecting community preferences about attribution and publication.
This is ongoing student-led research. The collection is preliminary, and names, translations, and taxonomic interpretations remain subject to verification.
The cockatoo dataset as an example
Every one of the 2,188 entries records the same details, taken from its original source. Individual records are not published yet, so the card below shows the fields each record contains rather than a specific entry.
Example: record layout
A report of a captive bird eating a commercial cereal and a report of a wild flock feeding on native seed answer different questions. Keeping the observation type, place, and season with each record lets researchers compare like with like. In the current dataset, 61.70% of entries describe wild cockatoos, 36.38% captive birds, and 1.92% feral populations. 77.56% come from primary sources.
Example: proposed connection (not built yet)
Once records are linked, a reader could start from one plant family, see every cockatoo species reported eating it in the wild or in captivity, and open the source behind each report. This illustrates a planned feature. Long-term goal
Maps of what has been recorded about each parrot group, and where the gaps are. We're building these group by group, toward all parrots.
What you can use today
Find scientific databases, publications, research tools, historical archives, veterinary and avicultural references, and citizen-science platforms.
Browse the resource directory →
Each resource is marked so you can see what is ready to use now.
The wider parrot community
Associations, conservation groups, research networks, bird clubs, and the people working for parrots. Looking for databases or references? Browse Resources & Tools.
Organizations in aviculture, research, welfare, and conservation.
Browse organizations → Available nowClubs that meet in person or online.
Find a club → Available nowConferences, expos, and meetings from official organizer pages.
See the calendar → Available nowCurrently featuring Icarus Nellessen, whose lory and hyacinth macaw artwork appears on this site.
Meet the artists → Featured aviculturistDiscover their page on The Avian Exchange and share it with fellow bird enthusiasts to help spread the word.
Visit Spencer Aviary ↗
Lorius lory — explore the species profile and experimental multilingual reference, connecting current and historical names with independent sources.
Explore the Black-capped Lory →
Phoenix Landing’s Helping Parrots shares personal stories and practical experiences of caring for parrots.
Read Helping Parrots ↗Browse all Blogs & Voices →The Parrots Project began with a discarded National Geographic magazine.
I was about twelve, growing up in Alaska. My mother brought home old magazines that the library was discarding. Their worn pages opened windows into places far beyond the cold and isolation around me.
One afternoon, I opened a magazine and found photographs of macaws eating clay along Peru’s Tambopata River. There was a blue-and-gold macaw, and hundreds of parrots gathered against reddish-orange riverbanks, surrounded by rainforest.
I wanted to know why.
Read the full story →Listing an organization, club, or event is not an endorsement or an official partnership.
People behind the project
Founder and Director
Research focuses on parrot dietary habits and nutrient requirements, including their roles in health, longevity, reproduction, and cognitive function. PhD in Biomedical Sciences at Texas A&M University. Co-author of the student cockatoo diet project.
Texas A&M profile
Collaborator
Jason Crean is a biologist, educator, and consultant. His work includes professional learning for science teachers and consulting on animal nutrition and dietary enrichment. He is a co-author of the student cockatoo diet project.
Jason’s professional website
Collaborator
Tatiana Tatum is a professor and chair in Biological Sciences at Saint Xavier University. Her research includes pollution, toxicology, and genetic variation, and she supports undergraduate research. She is a co-author of the student cockatoo diet project.
Tatiana’s Saint Xavier profileWe recognize the Parrot Researchers Group and the Avicultural Society of America for their contributions to sharing and preserving parrot knowledge.
The lory and hyacinth macaw illustrations featured on this website are by Icarus Nellessen (@sunbound.stars).
Featured learning & enrichment
Explore practical perspectives on parrot training, care, and enrichment from these featured creators and businesses.
Training videos
Training strategies, foraging, and enrichment from Hi Red Bird. Videos load from YouTube when you press play.
Training & care education
A UK-based parrot training and care consultancy offering consultations and educational courses, with online services for caregivers worldwide.
Explore Best Behaved Birds ↗Enrichment & bird toys
A family-owned business in Pittsfield, Maine, creating handmade toys for birds. Explore their enrichment ideas and bird toys through their official page.
Explore The Leather Elves ↗Get involved
Old parrot books, avicultural magazines, society newsletters, breeding records, and photographs may hold observations found nowhere else.
Offer materials ↗Students and volunteers can annotate references, locate requested PDFs, extract data, catalog, translate, and communicate science, as the cockatoo project students did.
See volunteer roles →Photographs and notes of parrots feeding are useful records. Share them through the project on iNaturalist.
Join on iNaturalist ↗If something on this site is wrong or out of date, tell us and include the source.
Send a correction ↗From the founder
Thank you for visiting. If you have materials, questions, research ideas, or corrections, I would like to hear from you.
Contact the project ↗EV Voltura, PhD, Founder and Director