Agree with Phil, also positioning the bird to fly into rather than out of the frame usually is more attractive. This will also eliminate the centered subject.
This has a very painterly look to it, but we need more sharpness in the face. I tired my hand at it, cropped for composition, used Vignette blurring filter in Nik Color Effex, Viveza to fix the plumage and bill color and sharpened the eye only. Hope I didn't overdo the sharpening, but I just misplaced my glasses :o