Hawk head

[cstone01]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone has experience with hawk headed parrots. A friend of mine who has a few large birds Came into possession of a weaned young female. (The bird is currently about one year old, has been in the house 4-5 months) She is asking me if I would like to take her because it’s not working out in their household. Even though the bird is young she been fairly aggressive. The bird was Acquired in A series of trades and re-homes after the death of a collector between a few people. Her flock has been very disrupted and she thinks Removing the new hawk head is the best option.

We currently have a very well-adjusted, well behaved four-year-old male Alexandrian who is used to being an only bird. My husband would eventually like to add a large Macaw (in 8-10 years, we are planning to have children soon and he wants them to be a little older). I work from home and have a lot of time to work with our bird/another addition.

I have told her I can take the bird for a couple of weeks at least keep her in a separate room until things calm down in their house, but I do not know if I can keep her permanently. I hate to see birds shuffled around but the more research I do on hawk heads the more un-certain I am. The bird is flighted, he is on a good diet and a good light schedule because I’m sure it’s going to be asked. I talked to a breeder yesterday and she said it is rare that hawk heads can be integrated into a flock with other birds... is this true? He’s a very beautiful bird and I would love to give him a good home and a good chance but my priority is the bird we already own. The last thing I want to do is disrupt Hephaestions happy environment. I also do not want to create a situation where we have a bird permanently secluded away from the family and the other birds are free to interact with us.

Is there a possibility a bird like this could be acclimated into our household? I have seen some stories online where they will attack other birds (and people but I am more worried about Hephaestion, I can handle some bites). I would like to help my friend out and help this little bird but Hephaestion came first and is my priority. Right now my friend says if she is let out she shoulder rushes and bites at her face. He has never directly attacked one of her other birds but is aggressive with them and bullies them, all of her birds have been unhappy and on edge. All of her other birds are also significantly bigger than our Alexandrian (The smallest is a blue throat) so I’m worried that he might just go after Hephaestion- the hawkhead is only a little smaller than him.

What is your advice? We have a large home and I could separate him but I would hate to keep a bird alone in a room for an extended amount of time. If I keep him permanently I would want him to integrate into the house and be safe interacting with Hephaestion.

[Pajarita]

I do not have any personal experience with hawkheads and do not know anybody who has one because, at least here in USA, they are actually very rare in aviculture precisely because of their aggression and inability to interact with other birds. And I don't know if it would work out with the bird alone in a room... they are known for their very loud tantrums when they are not happy. I would think that the ideal situation for this parrot is to be housed in a very large aviary with other hawkheads -that's what I would look for if I had the parrot myself. Not all species of parrots do well as pets but breeders will breed them and people will buy them anyway...

[cstone01]

Do you think taking him for a few weeks while her household calms down would be a mistake with my if I keep them apart? How Realistic would it be for me to find her a home like you were describing?

[Michael]

Surprisingly, Hawk Heads are like an extreme Senegal Parrot. All the difficult qualities of a Senegal Parrot are multiplied by like 5x. The good ones too. But that also makes it hard. Not surprising that the Senegal Parrot rescue is the best place for Jake the Hawkhead.

[Pajarita]

Hmmm, I am sorry, Michael, but I do not agree that any rescue that takes in any other species but hawkheads is good for one because it would have to be kept separate from the other birds. This would not be too bad if they did have another or more hawkheads, an adequate spare room (rescues never have spare anything) and somebody who can make a commitment to them and only them for many, many years to bond with (another problem in rescues where volunteers do not last forever).

I used to believe that rescues and sanctuaries were good for parrots but I have changed my mind over the years. Mind you, I am not saying that rescues are not necessary -sometimes, the only option is to put the bird in a rescue- and sanctuaries (as long as they are good, not like the one in North Carolina, for example) are great for ex-breeders or birds that have been so very abused that have completely broken the bond with humans, but not for pet birds. Hawkheads are not good pets so putting it in a rescue is kind of counterproductive (rescues are for rehoming) because it will be a long, lonely life for the poor bird.

I stand by my recommendation: the current owner should find the bird a home where there is another hawkhead and do the due diligence because you don't want it to go to a home where there are children or people work full time, where they don't have the right husbandry (correct diet, solar schedule, etc), proper infrastructure (they need a room of their own) or where they will be bred. Keeping the bird for two weeks is not going to work out at all because a) it won't really change anything at its original home (it would be like a very short vacation for the other birds but it will end and go back to the same old same old) and b) you can't find a good home in two weeks so unless you are willing to keep the bird separate for months and months and put in A LOT of work and time (you might have to travel with the bird because, like I said, hawkheads are not easy to find because nobody wants them), it will be for nothing.

One more thing, CStone, before you make your decision (and believe that I do feel for the poor owner and understand your desire to help out), please consider that you have one of the milder species of parrots (psittaculas are right up there with cockatiels) and hawkheads are one of the most aggressive so we are talking about two birds that are each at the exact opposite end when it comes to temperament.

[cstone01]

Thanks for the advice. I think I’ll just help her try to find a new home and not do any respite care.

[gloomybarrel]

Thanks for such a detailed reply. My issue is resolved now! run 3

Regards