Parrot of the day

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I've been a bad parrot poster, but doing some research I found about this guy:

http://ibc.lynxeds.com/files/pictures/Tanygnathus_megalorynchos.jpg

Native from the Philippines, this is the Great billed Parrot (the pic in the wiki is almost cartoonish: ).

[Griffin NoName]

Wish I looked like that.

[Opsa]

He's fabulous!

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Reviving the thread with a Musk Lorikeet:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Musk_Lorikeet_jul08.jpg/400px-Musk_Lorikeet_jul08.jpg

[Bluenose]

Reviving the thread with a Musk Lorikeet:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/af/Musk_Lorikeet_jul08.jpg/400px-Musk_Lorikeet_jul08.jpg

One of the jobs I do when working as a volunteer at the Healseville Sanctuary is to work on the large "Land of Parrots" aviary.   In the small parrot section we have dozens of these and other species.   I help visitors to have a close encounter by giving them feeding trays and nectar and seeds. It is not uncommon to have six or eight of these spirited little birds on you at any one time.   I love the look that visitors get when they have them sitting on their arms and hands.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

Parrots are fun, even the wild ones, last week my son had to play for the school district in downtown Ft. Lauderdale and while walking around the bars and restaurants close to the concert hall I heard the racket expected from a clan of parrots, but there was something slightly different in the tone and volume of the vocalizations,. Normaly I'd expect monk parakeets, I started to look around and finally I found them on the top of a tree looking very much like red-masked parakeets/cherry headed conures:

_{(I tried taking pictures but my current mega-phone isn't that good for that, I would've needed a decent tele. This one is from a juvenile from wiki.)}

Once I saw them I started to make calls and immediately I captured their attention, you could see them from the top tilting their head to see better with one eye. I did that for a few minutes and then calls from other members of the clan across the street moved them out. Later as we dined some stood for a while in the top of a tree just above the outdoor tables.
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Parrots have something that other birds don't have, even very smart ones like corvids, and it's their curiosity and childish attention seeking that you don't see in any other wild bird. While a crow looks at you with concerned detachment (while paying close attention), and ducks look at you as an easy source of food, parrots actually look at you. I haven't experienced that with any other wild bird.

[Sibling Zono (anon1mat0)]

I saw the red masked clan the other day a few blocks from where I saw them before, they look pretty.
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A new parrot for today, a Jandaya Parakeet from northeastern Brazil:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bc/Aratinga_Jandaya_-in_tree-8.jpg

[Griffin NoName]

Wow! That is one impressive parrot.