Latest update November 15th, 2024 1:00 AM
The Red-Fan Parrot
A perched Red-Fan Parrot
The Red-Fan Parrot (Deroptyus accipitrinus), also known as the Hawk-headed Parrot, is an unusual New World parrot hailing from the Amazon Rainforest. It is the only member of the genus Deroptyus.
The Red-Fan Parrot possesses elongated neck feathers that can be raised to form an elaborate fan, which greatly increases the bird’s apparent size, and is possibly used when threatened. It generally lives 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.
Red-Fan Parrots, although not particularly common in aviculture are sometimes kept as aviary birds or companion parrots. Whilst juvenile birds tend to be docile, adults can be particularly ill-tempered, stubborn, unpredictable and strong-willed birds, showing extreme aggression towards humans and other birds housed with them including others of their own species and/or their own mates, particularly when in breeding conditions.
Red-Fan Parrots, when kept as pets tend to bond with one person and require firm handling and a patient owner, experienced in both bird-keeping and the reading of psittacine body language. However as with all parrots, temperament can vary greatly from individual to individual and some Red-Fan Parrots do make excellent companions.
Parrots have a pan-tropical distribution with several species inhabiting the temperate Southern Hemisphere as well. The greatest diversity of parrots is found in South America and Australasia. Characteristic features of parrots include a strong curved bill, an upright stance, strong legs, and clawed zygodactyl feet. Most parrots are predominantly green, with other bright colours, and some species are multi-coloured. Cockatoo species range from mostly white to mostly black, and have a mobile crest of feathers on the top of their heads. Most parrots are monomorphic or minimally sexually dimorphic. They are the most variably sized bird order in terms of length.
The most important components of most parrots’ diets are seeds, nuts, fruit, buds and other plant material, and a few species also eat insects and small animals, and the lories and lorikeets are specialised to feed on nectar from flowers, and soft fruits. Almost all parrots nest in tree holes (or nest boxes in captivity), and lay white eggs from which emerge altricial (helpless) young.
Parrots in general, along with ravens, crows, jays and magpies, are some of the most intelligent birds, and the ability of some parrot species to imitate human voices enhances their popularity as pets. Trapping of these parrots for the pet trade, as well as other hunting, habitat loss and competition from invasive species, have diminished wild populations, and this bird species has been subjected to more exploitation than any other group of birds. Recent conservation measures to conserve the habitats of some of the high-profile charismatic parrot species has also protected many of the less charismatic species living in the ecosystem.
The parrot family’s fossil record, however, is sparse and their origin can so far only be inferred. A single 15 mm fragment from a large lower bill found in Lance Creek Formation deposits of Niobrara County, Wyoming, USA, has been suggested as the first parrot fossil. Of Late Cretaceous age, it is about 70 million years old. But subsequent reviews have established that this fossil is almost certainly not from a bird, but from a caenagnathid theropod—a non-avian dinosaur with a birdlike beak.
The earliest records of modern parrots date to about 23–20 mya (millions years ago) and are also from Europe. Subsequently, the fossil record—again, mainly from Europe—consists of bones clearly recognizable as belonging to parrots of modern type. The Southern Hemisphere does not have nearly as rich a fossil record for the period of interest as the Northern, and contains no known parrot-like remains earlier than the early to middle Miocene, around 20 mya.
At this point, however, is found the first unambiguous parrot fossil (as opposed to a parrot-like one), an upper jaw which is indistinguishable from that of modern cockatoos. A few modern genera are tentatively dated to a Miocene origin, but their unequivocal record stretches back only some 5 million years ago. (Source: Wikipedia the Free Online Encyclopedia)
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