(Please click to enlarge).
Isn’t this guy gorgeous? It took me awhile to find out what he was. Thank you google. The unique Hawk-headed Parrot is the only member of it’s own genus, Deroptyus. It has unusual elongated feathers on it’s neck that it can raise in a frill or fan when threatened. It is, for this reason, also sometimes referred to as a Fan-headed Parrot. You can see these long red and blue feathers in the shot below.

It is a fruitivore that lives in The Amazon Basin.

Reportedly, HH Parrots are prone to be stubborn, ill-tempered, and even aggressive at times as pets.

Maybe they prefer hanging out in the Amazon to being pets. Who can blame them? I’ve been to The Amazon, and if I were a parrot I would much rather be there than in a cage in someone’s house.

This guy wasn’t threatened or ill-tempered at all however, and I couldn’t get him to raise so much as a feather for a shot. He probably likes the huge multi-level Owen’s Aviary at the San Diego Zoo and has never even been to the Amazon. If he ever saw it though, I bet he’d fly off in shot and never look back. There is nothing like seeing incredible birds like this in the wild!

To see what he looks like with his frill raised like a hawk, check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-fan_Parrot

Cheers to you from the happy, well-tempered Hawk-head, at the Owen’s Aviary