White
Bellied Caiques are the undisputed rodeo clowns of the parrot
world. Their coloring is almost as comical as their personalities.
They like being the center of attention and are a joy to watch
play, wrestle, Hop like rabbits, and steal food from each
other. They are very easy to teach tricks and are capable
of completing difficult tasks.
White
Bellied Caiques are like small children in that they can play
very hard for a while and then get tired somewhat suddenly
and need a nap. They need this down time which makes them
a good pet for someone who is gone a lot during the day. They
do not need constant attention and have the ability to entertain
themselves when need be.
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. 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.
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