What to learn our new favorite bird word?
Zygodactylous.
This delightful spelling bee stumper has to do with some bird's feet, specifically "having the first and fourth toes directed backward and the second and third forward."
Having zygodactyl feet is just one of the striking qualities of the rose-ringed parakeet, which is also known for its emerald-green plumage and its deafening squawk.
Rose-ringed parakeets also have the distinction of being one of the most widespread parrot species in the world. Since their introduction to Hawaiʻi as pets in the 1960s, escaped parakeets have formed sizable wild populations on Kauaʻi and Oʻahu.
Though beautiful, these birds are formidable agricultural pests. Lawmakers are currently working to pass a bill that would establish an interagency task force to explore short- and long-term solutions to the growing number of parakeets on Kauaʻi.
Audio credit: Peter Boesman, Macaulay Library at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology (ML284196)
