 The extent and shade of the red or orange plumage on its head, thighs, and bend of wings vary depending on the subspecies.They are popular as pets, partly because of their ability to mimic speech and copy sounds.Trapping of wild birds for the pet trade is a potential threat to wild populations; however, they are protected by CITES (appendix II) making the trade, import and export of all wild-caught parrots illegal.