image credit: Scott Olmstead, via Flickr
Many men dread the day when they wake up and look in the mirror only to discover that they are now bald. They used to have a lush mop of curly brown hair and now – nothing. Well maybe it doesn’t happen overnight, but you get the idea. Now for the Bald Parrot, however, there is no “when will that day come?!” but instead it’s born with a beautiful full coat of green & red feathers and… a bald head. Damn. He really got the green-weenie in the genetic lottery huh?
Scientists had originally believed this species was just a juvenile form of the Vulturine Parrot until further inspection revealed that the specimens had “well-developed gonads and a well-ossified skull indicating that they were adult birds.” In 2002, a paper was published in The Auk declaring the species was in fact separate from the Vulturine Parrot. Bald parrots are extremely rare and on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
