What are parakeets?

Answer 1

The term "parakeet" is a generalised term to cover numerous species of smaller, long-tailed parrots. The word tends to be used in countries outside of the birds' native lands. For example, the term "parakeet" is never used in Australia to refer to budgies, lorikeets or cockatiels, yet these birds are commonly known as "parakeets" overseas.

Birds classified under the name "parakeet" are actually unrelated to each other, except by means of all being in the parrot family. They are all seed, nut and fruit-eaters, with some species feeding off pollen and nectar they get from native flowers. The cockatiel, for example, is the smallest of the cockatoos, yet other birds grouped under the name of "parakeet" are not cockatoos.

'Parakeet' also tends to be a commonly mistaken name for budgerigars, the smallest of the parrot species. Birds classified under the term parakeet include:

• budgies
• cockatiels
• rosellas
• lorikeets