Parrot

Parrot by Paul Carter is a fascinating natural and cultural history of parrots. It covers three broad areas: Parrotics — the historical, cultural and scientific classifications of parrots; Parroternalia — the association of parrots with the different languages, ages, tastes, and dreams of society; and Parrotology — the mimicry of parrots and what that can tell us about our own systems of communication.

Highly illustrated, with images drawn from a wide range of cultures, historical periods and media, Parrot is a humorous roller-coaster ride through parrots in literature, jokes, folklore, mythology, film, TV, and children's stories worldwide. It also discusses parrot conservation, talking bird experiments, and parrot portraiture.

This book differs from previous histories, which have treated parrots as subjects of curiosity and a pretext for elegy. A new kind of animal history, Parrot is philosophical and poetic: it takes seriously the critical and ironic mirror that parrots hold up to human society.

Humorously written and wide-ranging in scope, Parrot will have wide appeal, and will be of interest to parrot enthusiasts and specialists, as well as scholars of animals in culture.