A natural history of parrots, this book reveals how the 333 species have diversified and spread into the arid land of Australia and even into the sub-Antarctic. The book discusses how the parrot has been valued as a pet for nearly 4,000 years, and how they were one of the natural treasures brought back from the tropics by early navigators. The trade in parrots and the destruction of the rain-forests is currently threatening 73 out of the 333 species. There are now only a handful of Spix's macaws and Mauritius parakeets left. But Psittacosis, a potentially lethal disease that people can catch from these birds, is on the increase and may be the best protection that parrots have against extinction.