Many thanks to Parrot Island for the video Caique Behavior- why does my caique do that? I don't understand what it means when he.... Welcome to our caique behavior page- our manual to the mannerisms of caiques. We will walk you step-by-step through the basic behaviors that caiques display, and explain what those behaviors mean. Lets begin! Hopping Hopping is an enduring caique trait. As exhibited in the video above, caiques can hop efficiently, and its not an uncommon behavior. In other countries, caiques are valued for their hopping abilites and are called 'the dancing parrot'. A caique hop here, a caique hop there, do the caique hop! It has never been explained the reason that caiques hop, but I notice three specific times when mine hop. 1. When they are trying to get somewhere faster 2. When they are over excited (usually occurs after a hard playing session) 3. When they are MAD. A mad caique hopping at you- watch out! The caique hop is simply a cute mannerism that is gentically ingrained in the bird. Does it mean something? It can when paired with the environment- watch your bird closely and see if you can see when he or she hops the most. Eye Pinning Caiques have expressive faces, espicially their eyes. Because of the reddish color of the eye, it is easy to 'read' a caiques eyes. One noticable behavior that caiques exhibit is 'eye pinning; or simple 'pinning'. This is when the pupil contracts, and dilates quickly, causing the 'red' of the eye to get large, then small, then large again, then small again, in the same sequence in a short amount of time. Pinning occurs when the bird is excited (usually on the verge of being over excited) or angry. Amazons exhibit eye pinning most noticably. One of my caiques always exhibits pinning when he is most excited, right before he does something like biting. Regurgitation Eww... my bird is barfing! Is he sick? There are two types of regurgitation a) I love you, let me feed you and woo you or b) ugh, I feel sick mommy... There is an obvious difference between the two. The 'affectionate' regurgitation is made with a fairly straightforward motion, the bird just brings up the food from its crop and either keeps it in his mouth, or either makes it a gift to you :) Its a token of affection, really! I notice that all my birds, when they regurgitate with love, they couple it with a certain mannerism. Both my caiques bob their heads and talk- one says ' hello, hello' and the other whistles the wolf whistle. 'I don't feel good mommy' regurgitation the bird will snake his/her head from side to side, and actually expell the foodstuffs from the mouth (that doesn't always happen with 'love' regurgitation). 'Love' regurgitation is a normal occurance between a bonded bird and its owner, and/or a mature bird in the spring months. Stalking A behavior exhibited by a caique that is defending his/her territory, challanging someone in the territory, or a mad caique. Eyes are pinned, feathers on the head and ruff, sometimes the whole body, are fluffed out, giving the bird a larger then life appearance. Wings are held slightly away from the body, and the bird usually paces to show what a 'big and mean' bird he/she really is. This behavior usually instigates the start of the caique attack mode. The Beakiness of Caiques Caiques use their beaks for absolutely everything- eating, climbing, playing. Its basically a third arm and viewed as such. Because caiques use their beaks so much, they are described in text as being 'beaky', meaning using their beaks to a large extent.Some people may view normal beaky caique behavior as pre-biting, or even biting. This unease can lead to biting behaviors. Example- a caique will go beak first onto a perch when stepping up. This is a way of making sure the perch is secure, and testing the footing. Seeing a bird stepping up at you beak first can be unnerving.
Caique Behavior- why does my caique do that? I don't understand what it means when he....
Welcome to our caique behavior page- our manual to the mannerisms of caiques. We will walk you step-by-step through the basic behaviors that caiques display, and explain what those behaviors mean. Lets begin!
Hopping
Hopping is an enduring caique trait. As exhibited in the video above, caiques can hop efficiently, and its not an uncommon behavior. In other countries, caiques are valued for their hopping abilites and are called 'the dancing parrot'. A caique hop here, a caique hop there, do the caique hop! It has never been explained the reason that caiques hop, but I notice three specific times when mine hop. 1. When they are trying to get somewhere faster 2. When they are over excited (usually occurs after a hard playing session) 3. When they are MAD. A mad caique hopping at you- watch out! The caique hop is simply a cute mannerism that is gentically ingrained in the bird. Does it mean something? It can when paired with the environment- watch your bird closely and see if you can see when he or she hops the most.
Eye Pinning
Caiques have expressive faces, espicially their eyes. Because of the reddish color of the eye, it is easy to 'read' a caiques eyes. One noticable behavior that caiques exhibit is 'eye pinning; or simple 'pinning'. This is when the pupil contracts, and dilates quickly, causing the 'red' of the eye to get large, then small, then large again, then small again, in the same sequence in a short amount of time. Pinning occurs when the bird is excited (usually on the verge of being over excited) or angry. Amazons exhibit eye pinning most noticably. One of my caiques always exhibits pinning when he is most excited, right before he does something like biting.
Regurgitation
Eww... my bird is barfing! Is he sick?
There are two types of regurgitation a) I love you, let me feed you and woo you or b) ugh, I feel sick mommy... There is an obvious difference between the two. The 'affectionate' regurgitation is made with a fairly straightforward motion, the bird just brings up the food from its crop and either keeps it in his mouth, or either makes it a gift to you :) Its a token of affection, really! I notice that all my birds, when they regurgitate with love, they couple it with a certain mannerism. Both my caiques bob their heads and talk- one says ' hello, hello' and the other whistles the wolf whistle. 'I don't feel good mommy' regurgitation the bird will snake his/her head from side to side, and actually expell the foodstuffs from the mouth (that doesn't always happen with 'love' regurgitation). 'Love' regurgitation is a normal occurance between a bonded bird and its owner, and/or a mature bird in the spring months.
Stalking
A behavior exhibited by a caique that is defending his/her territory, challanging someone in the territory, or a mad caique. Eyes are pinned, feathers on the head and ruff, sometimes the whole body, are fluffed out, giving the bird a larger then life appearance. Wings are held slightly away from the body, and the bird usually paces to show what a 'big and mean' bird he/she really is. This behavior usually instigates the start of the caique attack mode.
The Beakiness of Caiques
Caiques use their beaks for absolutely everything- eating, climbing, playing. Its basically a third arm and viewed as such. Because caiques use their beaks so much, they are described in text as being 'beaky', meaning using their beaks to a large extent.Some people may view normal beaky caique behavior as pre-biting, or even biting. This unease can lead to biting behaviors. Example- a caique will go beak first onto a perch when stepping up. This is a way of making sure the perch is secure, and testing the footing. Seeing a bird stepping up at you beak first can be unnerving.
