This is the first parrot I’ve done, and he’s just absolutely gorgeous. I love doing species and groups I work with as live birds too; I get to learn more about my favorite birds.

I wish I could’ve done a skull and skin but since part of the skull generally stays with the skin (so it has a beak), it’s a bit more complicated to do. Parrots have kinetic skulls, which means they have an extra joint in their skull between their cranium and maxilla (upper beak). This allows them to open their beak farther than other birds, helping them be more dextrous when manipulating food and other objects. This particular type of cranial kinesis is called prokinesis (Zusi, 1984).

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