Caique Behavior Cont'd
The Sounds of the Caique
Caiques make many unusual, unique and enduring sounds when they are
happy, content, even mad. Learning to associate what sound goes with what
scenario will help you to read your caiques body language and behavior more
effectively.
Purring is a sound that I find my caiques make when they either
see something (usually out the window) that they are extremelly interested in.
Or, when they are content and I have just rubbed the right spot their necks.
This sound I refer to as purring, and sounds rather much like a loud cat purr
with a bit of bird squawk thrown in.
Hormonal Behavior
A hormonal caique can be an...er...interesting thing to deal with.
Caiques are known for their good natures, but like all birds, they do go through
a hormonal period where they seem to adapt to an alto ego. From talking with
other caique owners, I found that male caiques are more prone to displaying
aggressive behaviors in the spring then females. From my experience, I also
found that the first springtime hormonal rush is the worst. Like a human
teenager, the bird is experiencing lots of changes- growing up, maturiting both
physically and mentally. Much like human teenagers, with the first rush of
hormones the bird is confused, as all the new feelings and experiences are new
to him/her. The second spring is much easier and more relaxed. My male was
really nasty the first spring, but has considerably mellowed.
What does hormonal behavior look like? Hormonal behavior comes in all
different forms, but is most commonly exhibited
in:
Regurgitation
Increased Screaming
Increased Biting
Sexual
behaviors- i.e mounting a perch
Nest Building
If your bird is showing an
increase of any of these one behaviors (espicially the biting and/or screaming)
do not automatically write it off as hormonal. The hormonal rush comes once a
year, according to the birds natural breeding schedule. If your bird is
exhibiting excessive behaviors when not in breeding season, he/she may have
developed an undeserable behavior that needs to be approached in a methodical
manner to be modified and replaced with a more desirable behavior. I have seen
many people write off screaming,biting and lunging behaviors as hormonal- even
in the dead of winter!
Feather Picking
Yes, caiques can feather pick. There is no parrot that I know of that cannot/will not feather pick, and do not let anyone tell you otherwise. I have heard before that caiques do not featherpick, they are not 'prone to it' etc etc. Just because they are not prone to it, does not mean that it does not happen! Ahem, rant over.
Feather destructive behavior in pet parrots is more common then some may think. There are a multitude of reasons as to why a bird may mutilate its feathers including but not limited to : boredom, food allergies, physical health problem, sexual frustration, a substandered environment. A bird that picks its feathers should be taken in for a complete diagnostic checkup at a qualified avian veterinarians to rule out any physical problems.
What does featherpicking look like? It can appear in several forms. The feathers can appear broken or split. Feathers can appear shredded, the quality of the feather take on a blackish gleam, due to overpreening. Bald spots on the bird when not in molt (and even in molt- bald spots are not normal for a molting bird) are an indicater.
There are so many possibilites, reasons, theories that I am not even going to
touch the surface as to why/how/when/where. If you have a featherpicking parrot,
and the bird has been cleared of all physical symptoms by a vet, there are some
things you can try.
*A change in diet- Roudybush offers a special Rice Diet
for featherpicking birds
*More foraging activities- if a bird is busy working
for food or treats, it cannot be shredding its feathers
* Preening toys
around the cage. This helped my plucker, espicially those peacock feather toys.
She preens them instead of her own feathers
* Daily bathes
* When molting,
as featherpicking birds seem to be more sensitive to molts then fully feathered
ones, spritz with a mixture of 1 part aloe juice to 3 parts warm water. The aloe
soothes the skin and helps the overall condition of the feathers
Birds are
beautiful, if they are fully feathered or not. Love your fid for who he/she is.
Tail Wagging
Another cute mannerism personified by caiques is tail
wagging. When a caique is really happy or content, he/she will shake its
tailfeathers vigoriously. This is usually coupled with a vocalization from the
bird indicating that it is happy.
Surfing
Caiques are leaf bathers in the wild, meaning they bathe
by rubbing their bodies over wet foliage. In our homes, they act out that same
instinctive behavior by rubbing on soft articles of clothing, or another caique
favorite, human hair :) This is known as displaced leaf bathing behavior, and
completly normal. It is commonly referred to as 'surfing' by caique owners.
Birds will exhibit this behavior all year round. If you really want to see your
feathered friend have some fun, offer him a small, fluffy handtowel, or even
some clean, wet lettuce!
Interested in learning more about parrot behavior? Behavior Works is Susan Friendmen's
website. Susan Friendmen is an excellent avian behaviorist, who runs the Yahoo
Parrot BAS group, and teaches the online Living and Learning with Parrots class.
Mattie Sue Athan is a parrot behaviorist and author of two books referenced on this site. Her website, Positively Parrots is highly recommended for those seeking behavior advice.
