Parrot Blogger - Ria Winters

Portrait of Hawk-headed Parrots

by Ria Winters

The first time I saw Hawk-headed parrots, which is about ten years ago, I was suprised by their appearance. They looked very different from all other parrots I had ever seen. It almost looked like their heads did not fit with the rest of their body. But the colours of the crest and the almost fluorescent green of the wings are stunning.
I made some quick shots and only later I learned that they were "Kraagpapegaaien" as we call them in Dutch: Parrots with a collar.
This is one of the photographs I made then:



Being such a excellant subject I have painted them several times .
The scientific name is Deroptyus accipitrinus.
There is just a single member in the genus Deroptyus, with two subspecies: Deroptyus accipitrinus and Deroptyus fuscifrons. The latter differs from the the more well-known D.accipitrinus because it's forehead and crown are a dusky brown with narrow white streaking.
The accipitrinus subspecies are found along the Amazon basin north of the river and up into southern Venezuela.
The fuscifrons subspecies are found south of the Amazon River going down into northern Brazil.



Hawk-Headed Parrots generally live in undisturbed forest, feeding in the canopy on fruits. It nests in holes in trees and stumps, laying two to three eggs. Only two nests have been examined in the wild, both had one chick. It is not considered threatened and let's hope it stays that way.

Hawk-headed parrots are also called Red-fan Parrot and are the only psittacines other than cockatoos that have a crest they can control.

The painting below is a private commission.
They have a dramatic appearance and that's what I tried to capture.