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White Bellied Caique
Pionites leucogaster leucogaster
These playful little birds are among the most beautiful of the parrot family and if you can devote enough of your time
to a Caique, you will be well rewarded.
In the wild, White-bellied Caiques spend most of their time up in the tree tops and love to play with twigs and with fellow
flock members! Some times pairs will travel separately from the flock. They eat fruits, berries and seeds. White-bellied Caiques
nest very high in the canopy. Captive-bred White-bellied Caiques seem to have an endless energy supply and enthusiastic personalities!
They love to play and bathe, and need an ample supply of leafy green branches for chewing. White-bellied Caiques are extremely
sociable even though their talking ability is quite limited. If they are kept in a cage, they will need lots of exercise and
playtime- getting a playpen is suggested! Be sure your bird has many toys and perches in his cage to keep him amused; a Cockatiel
cage is the right size, but the larger, the better. White-bellied Caiques do very well on a basic pellet food supplemented
with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables along with grain and sprouted seeds. When raised correctly and handled firmly, White-bellied
Caiques are fun friends! They are very intelligent and can learn a variety of tricks!
Growing to about nine inches in length, White-bellied Caiques have predominantly green plumage. They are extremely colorful
little birds with orange upper ear coverts, crowns, napes and foreheads. Their bill is horn colored, and the periopthalmic
ring is white. White-bellied Caiques have flesh-colored feet. The iris is red. White-bellied Caiques have yellow throats and
cheeks. Their undersides are a creamy white color, and their under-tail covers are yellow in color. White-bellied Caiques'
primaries and primary coverts are a deep violet or purple-blue color, and the upper sides of their tails have green feathers.
The underside of the tail is a gray-black color.
White-bellied Caiques are native to Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru, where it resides in tropical lowland forests. First recorded
by Kuhl in 1820, obscured White-bellied Caiques have recently gained an almost overnight popularity in aviculture. This is
wonderful, because as their habitat is destroyed, captive-bred birds may be the only hope for the reintroduction of Caiques
to the wild and the preservation of the species.
Black Headed Caique
Pionites melanocephala melanocephala
These playful little birds are among the most beautiful of the parrot family and if you can devote enough of your time
to a Caique, you will be well rewarded.
In the wild, Black-headed Caiques spend most of their time up in the tree tops and love to play with twigs! They eat fruits,
berries, and seeds, even fighting with each other over the seeds. They live in flocks, which upon perceived danger, become
extremely still before rising into the air in a confusing show of cacophonous noise and flying feathers! Black-headed Caiques
seem to have an endless energy supply and personalities, which are best described as "manic"! They love to play
and bathe, and need lots of leafy green branches for chewing. Black-headed Caiques are extremely sociable even though their
talking ability is quite limited. If they are kept in a cage they will need lots of exercise and playtime- getting a playpen
is suggested! Caiques can be surprisingly aggressive and fearless among other birds, and they will often approach much larger
birds. They are really not "6' 5" and bullet-proof" as their demeanor might suggest, and they must be constantly
supervised when in the company of larger birds. Their exceptional playfulness begs for a partner, and for those not interested
in breeding, two females can do quite well together. A particularly amusing behavior is their habit of hopping rather rapidly
across almost any surface, which gives them the look of a wind-up toy. Be sure your bird has many toys and perches in its
cage to keep it amused. The minimum size cage for one Caique is 24 X 24 X 24, the average size of Amazon-sized cages. A better
choice would be the Cockatoo-sized cages, usually 36" long X 24" deep X 36" high. The bar spacing should be
no larger than 3/4". The cage must be long and tall enough to fit several perches, a variety of toys, swings and vines.
A Caique will use every square inch of the largest cage. Black-headed Caiques do very well on a basic pellet food supplemented
with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables along with grain and sprouted seeds. Although Black-headed Caiques have lots of positive
energy, sometimes they can be grumpy and nippy. Caiques need a strong hand to establish dominance because they can become
aggressive if handled timidly. When raised correctly and handled firmly, Black-headed Caiques are fun friends! They are very
intelligent and can learn a variety of tricks! They especially love to show off, and posture by strutting about importantly
to establish their dominance. Caiques are also very affectionate and cuddly birds. Most love being petted and snuggled. The
average adult will live between 25 and 40 years.
Growing to about nine inches in length, Black-headed Caiques have predominantly green plumage. They are extremely colorful
little birds with black crowns, napes, and foreheads. Their bill is also blackish, and the periopthalmic ring is dark gray
like the feet. The iris is red. Black-headed Caiques have orange cheeks, throats, thighs and flanks. Their undersides are
a creamy white color, and the undersides of their tails are yellow-orange and olive yellow. Black-headed Caiques' primaries
and primary coverts are a deep violet or purple-blue color, and the upper sides of their tails have feathers tipped in yellow.
Black-headed Caiques are native to Columbia, Ecuador, Venezuela, the Guyanas, Brazil, and parts of Peru, where it resides
in tropical savannahs and forests. First recorded by Linné in 1758, Black-headed Caiques are popular as pets but should only
be kept by those who can be patient but firm with them.
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