Black Headed Caique Small Parrot Bird

* Black-headed Parrot, Pionites melanocephalus. There are two subspecies. They hybridize freely and individuals showing some level of intermediacy in colors are common:
o Black-headed Parrot/Caique (P. m. melanocephalus): Eastern part of its range. Orange thighs and crissum, nape deep orange, and belly white.
o Pallid Parrot/Caique (P. m. pallidus): Western part of its range. Yellow thighs and crissum, nape relatively pale, and belly tinged yellowish (often barely visible; belly normally appears "dirty white" in the wild).

* White-bellied Parrot, Pionites leucogaster. There are three subspecies:
o Green-thighed Parrot/Caique (Pionites l. leucogaster): Eastern part of its range. It has green thighs and upper tail.
o Yellow-thighed Parrot/Caique (P. l. xanthomerius): Western part of its range. It has yellow thighs and green upper tail.
o Yellow-tailed Parrot/Caique (P. l. xanthurus): Central part of its range. It has yellow thighs and upper tail.

Caiques are growing in popularity in aviculture, the more commonly found species being the black-headed caique since it was introduced first in captivity, but the white-bellied caique's popularity is growing rapidly as well. Caiques bond well with humans and have a reputation as playful and energetic birds that enjoy playing with toys and lying on their backs, as shown in the photo on the right. They are not particularly good flyers, becoming tired and winded after only a short distance. They also tend to be clumsy and slow in the air as compared to other birds. They often prefer to walk, jump, climb, or hop as a mode of transportation. They are excellent climbers, with very strong feet and legs. Their behavior has been said to be most comparable to lories and lorikeets.

The two species of Caique also exhibit a unique behavior known as 'surfing', where the bird will vigorously rub its face, wings and chest against any nearby soft item (e.g. carpets, towels, cushions, crumpled paper, curtains or human hair) whilst using its beak to pull itself along. During this, the bird will display jerky movements and may roll over several times. This behavior is thought to be a cleaning or bathing motion and occurs regardless of age or sex. In the wild, Caiques use wet leaves instead of carpets or towels.

Compared with the volume of larger parrots, caiques are fairly quiet if trained properly. They have a peculiar call which has been compared to a smoke alarm, used for warning and for making contact with flock members who are out of visual range. This call is high, piercing, and loud enough to alert flock members across the jungle or neighboring apartment dwellers. They are extremely active, prefer lots of physical interaction and playtime, and are prolific chewers. They can be distrustful of or aggressive toward other species of parrot, so prospective buyers should be careful if they have or plan to have other types of parrots. They can also be highly demanding of human attention, and stubborn, not easily distracted from stealing eyeglasses or chewing unapproved items even when tempted with favorite treats and toys.

Caiques are poor imitators of human speech, and their appeal as a pet lies in their playfulness, not their speaking ability. Some individuals can learn to mimic words, and will speak in a soft and gravelly voice. Many caiques easily learn to whistle and some birds enjoy developing a large repertoire which they creatively recombine to come up with new calls and short tunes. They also enjoy learning environmental sounds such as telephone rings and microwave beeps.

Caiques also possess a particular odor. The smell of a particular individual depends on genetics, emotional state, grooming and diet. Some birds smell more strongly than others, and the scent can be described as a dry, cardboard-like smell. Happy caiques on a healthy diet that includes flax seeds or another source of high-quality seed oil often smell slightly sweet. Prospective buyers should interact with a bird before buying it, as all pet buyers should, to see whether they find the smell unpleasant.

As parrots go, caiques are somewhat "difficult" birds and inexperienced parrot owners should be ready to learn the bird's moods well. Although they can make great companion parrots for the right person, due to their extremely engaging and funny personalities, some individuals can be very hot-tempered. Caiques ordinarily respond well to homes in which some time is devoted to playing with them each day, and like all pet birds, they need to be kept in a bird-safe environment.

Sexing

As with most parrots, males and females of either species of caique look exactly the same. The only ways to determine sex are surgical sexing and DNA sexing. DNA sexing is safer for the bird than surgical sexing.

In the wild Caiques live high in the tree tops and eat seeds, berries and fruits. Tame Caiques can be fed a commercial formulated diet of seed or pelleted food.

While a commercial formulated diet does meet most of the nutritional requirements of the Caique Parrot, it does lack the phytonutrients found in fresh vegetables, fruits, seeds and grains. A Caique can also become bored with a formulated diet. A good balanced diet for a Caique parrot will include a mixture of seed and pelleted food and a variety of fresh vegetables and fruit. Chickweed, dandelion leaves, green peas, sweet corn, carrots and carrot greens, beet greens, lettuce, watercress and sweet potatoes are excellent vegetables to offer your Caique. Caiques will also enjoy spinach and broccoli, which will have the added benefit of adding calcium to their diet. Fruits that Caiques will enjoy include, raisons, apples, bananas, peaches, pears, apricots, plums and bananas. Be sure to remove the seeds from the apples as they can be toxic. Caiques especially like walnuts and these can be offered as treats, especially during training.

Any fresh food that has not been eaten should be discarded after 24 hours.

Gravel and oyster shell can be offered as a calcium supplement and Caiques will enjoy having a cuttlebone to help keep their beaks trimmed and in good shape.

Additional vitamin supplements can be added to their drinking water or sprinkled on their food.

Offer your Caique fresh water several times a day. They do enjoy having a bath, so it is a good idea to supply a larger dish of water for bathing and a separate, smaller dish for drinking.

As with all birds, do not feed Nanday Conures, avocados, chocolate, coffee or salt. Chocolate and coffee contain theobromine, an alkaloid that is toxic to birds. Avocado is also toxic to birds. Foods with a high salt content are harmful to birds because they can not excrete salt.

source: http://www.caiqueparrots.com/caique-parrots-nutrition-diet.html

Caique parrots are very affectionate and social birds. In the wild White bellied Caiques generally live in pairs or small flocks and Black headed Caiques will live in flocks or family groups of as many as 30 birds.

Caiques love interacting with people and with other birds however they can be somewhat aggressive toward other birds. Because of this Caiques should not be left alone with other pets.

Caique parrots are very intelligent and enjoy learning and showing off their tricks. They are, however, very strong-willed and will need a firm hand in training and in any interaction. Timid handling of a Caique can cause it to become aggressive toward humans.

Give a newly purchased Caique a few days to adjust to its new cage and environment before handling it. If the Caique was handfed as a baby it can probably be handled immediately and may not need much taming.

Allow your new Caique to learn to trust you before beginning any training. Most parrots, including Caiques, seem to be more open to training at night with sessions lasting only about 20 minutes at a time. The first thing you should teach your Caique is to accept a treat from your hand. After the Caique will readily accept treats from you, begin teaching him to step up on your hand. When the Caique does step up on your hand, offer him a treat as a reward. Walnuts are great rewards for Caiques.

Caiques love to chew and to climb. Their cage should be a minimum of 24 X 24 X 24 with enough room for them to spread their wings and their tails should not drag on the bottom of the cage. Caiques are great chewers so the cage should be chew resistant metal. They will need at least two perches, one low enough for them to reach food and water and one high so that they can use it for a roost. They will chew on their perches so perches made of natural materials are best. Perches made of fruit wood, poplar and willow will help them keep their feet and beaks in shape.

Source: http://www.caiqueparrots.com/caique-parrots-behavior-training.html

The black-headed caique is a fun loving, athletic parrot, with an average live span of 30-40 years. They have a chunky build, thickly muscled and strong dexterous feet which they use for manipulating toys and food. They are very agile, love to run and hop, usually preferring not to fly. They are also extremely fond of hanging upside down and swinging from hanging toys while flapping their wings. They enjoy toys of all sorts and are very persistent when they see something they want. Caiques can range from 7-9 inches in height and range in weight from 135-190 grams. They do not tend to obesity despite their voracious appetite as their activity level is high. They just never seem to stop playing.

Caiques can vocalize at a high pitch, but are not noted for excessive screaming. They do scream when frightened or growl and squeal when angered. Caiques are capable of a hard bite, so training is of the essence to maintain a gentle relationship with caiques. Caiques also can have sudden mood shifts and close attention to their mood during handling is a must. They do advertise a changed or heightened state of excitement with flashing or pinned eyes showing bright red, orange or yellow irises, fluffed head feathers, a cocky march towards the object of intent and out held wings.

Caiques also love cuddling, scratches and gentle caresses of their head feathers and chest, especially the cheeks. A properly socialized and consistently trained caique can be a loving and predictable companion, ever ready to play and roughhouse, eat and cuddle as the mood takes them.

Caiques love to eat, and then to play. Anything and everything becomes a toy, even a caique's own leg is a great wrestling partner. Caiques love to play on their backs, swing from swings or anything hanging, including braids and ponytails.
Caiques have a small ability to talk, and some can talk very clearly, but are not known for their talking ability.

Source: http://www.heathersfeathers.net/BH%20Caiques%20Info.htm