Nike Sunning herself

[bill_e]

Here in New Hampshire it's already getting chilly at night and the warm sunny days aren't going to last for long so Nike is spending her day perched by the front door. She loves the sun and this location doesnt actually get too hot.

It's difficult to take a pic with the sun in the background.

 

[wrench13]

Nike is such a beautiful parrot, even with her hackles down.

 

[GaleriaGila]

She looks so relaxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxed!
I love Hawk-Heads...
May I ask: when does she raise her crest/hackles? When she's happy? Upset? Or...?

 

[Kiwibird]

Such a pretty bird she is! And her plumage is perfect.

@Galaria- I was wondering the same thing too about when does she put her feathers up!

 

[bill_e]

Thanks all!

GaleriaGila, she raises her feathers to display aggression.

 

[Marileen]

Hi Bill

First, let me tell you that Nike is BEAUTIFUL!
What a nice, sweet pictures.
You can see her enjoy the Sun.

 

[SailBoat]

As always, thanks for the Hank Head fix!

That young lady has truly long tail feathers! She should be able to turn on a dime and go near vertical on a take-off.

 

[Anansi]

She really is beautiful! And she seems to be soaking up the sun quite happily.

So the raised crest on a hawk head is strictly about aggression, eh? I'd always assumed it was like 'toos or 'tiels, with a variety of different possible causes. Thanks for the info.

 

[bill_e]

If she's happy the crest stays down. Sometimes she'll get excited and start going nuts all on her own and the crest will come up but that is always accompanied by honking and biting of some sort. That sometimes will happen when she gets horny and the biting isn't hard unless she gets a sensitive area but mostly it's a warning.

When she's talking and acting out the crest stays down.

 

[bill_e]

As long as we're talking about Hawk Heads, in another post I had mentioned how thee skin around her eyes had darkened in the last 6 months. I did some research
and I think the light skin is often associated with a young birds. got Nike this past December and as you see in my signature pic it was light. She then got very hormonal for the next 4 or 5 months and I noticed her eye's darken.

I never got a good answer as to her age from the previous owner being given anything from 13-24 by googling posts by that person on the internet. I now think that it is possible that she is closer to 13 and that maybe this past winter was a late puberty.....it's the only thing that makes sense. The other possibility is that she had lived under room light and I put a daylight bulb on her cage.

 

[GaleriaGila]

Fascinating.
Thanks.
It's always so great to learn about a less-common bird. Just beautiful.

 

[CherylCali]

Gorgeous parrot ♡

CherylCali

 

[bill_e]

Nike has a new Boing

 

[Anansi]

Look at those vibrant colors! Most impressive! And Nike really seems to be enjoying her new boing! Seems right at home with it already.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

 

[bill_e]

bathing in the bright sunlight.

 

[faeryphoebe1]

What a beauty!

 

[Anansi]

Wow! I'm absolutely floored by that pic! Beautiful!

 

[Terry57]

bathing in the bright sunlight.

Absolutely amazing picture! I wish Darwin enjoyed her baths that much!

 

[Flboy]

Awesome Nike! Fantastic photos!