Caique Species
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The Black headed caique and its subspecies Pionites melanocephalus melanocephalus Black-headed caique |
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Pionites melanocephalus pallidus Pallid caique |
The White Bellied caique and its subspecies Pionites leucogaster xanthomerius Yellow-thighed caique |
Pionites leucogaster leucogaster Green-thighed caique - photo courtesy of P Patch Parrots |
Pionites leucogaster xanthurus Yellow-tailed caique - photo courtesy of Lexicon of Parrots |
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Caique Species & Subspecies
by Gloria Balaban, Shady Pines Aviary
There are two species in the genus Pionites; Leucogaster, commonly called the White-belly, and Melanocephala, commonly called the Black-head. Within these two species, there are 5 subspecies, 2 Black-headed and 3 White-bellied.
In the White-belly Caiques, there are three distinct subspecies The nominate, or main form is Pionites l. leucogaster, commonly referred to as "Green Thigh" White Belly. Although it is the nominate, or main race, very few were ever imported to the US. There is a photo at http://www.arndt-verlag.com/pics/295_1.JPG which shows both the Green thigh and Yellow thigh.
The subspeciesPionites l. xanthomeria, commonly referred to as "Yellow Thigh" White-belly, is the form we are all familiar with. Although it is a "subspecies" it is still most certainly considered a White-belly Caique as are the other two.
The common names "yellow-thigh" and "white-belly" both refer to the same bird. Think of it this way: all yellow thigh's are white-bellies, but not all white-bellies are yellow-thigh's.
The third subspecies, Pionites l. xanthurus, called the "Yellow-tailed Caique", is paler in coloration overall. There are no known representatives of this species in the US. There is a photo of this subspecies at: http://www.arndt-verlag.com/pics/295_2.JPG The geographical range of this subspecies is much smaller than that of the other two.
Of the Black Headed Caiques, Pionites m. melanocephala is the subspecies we are all familiar with. There is a subspecies, Pionites m. pallida, commonly called the "Pallid" Caique where all orange feathering is replaced with yellow feathers. There is speculation that some earlier
hybridization (both in captivity and possibly even in the wild) accounts for some of the color variations we see today among the Black-headed Caiques.
Source- Cleo's Corner
Map of Caique Territories
The above is a map of wild caique territories. It is not exact, and was made from information gathered from multiple sources. The map is a visual effect to show readers where caiques live in the wild- the maker of this map has no exact information regarding the caiques wild whereabouts- actual caique territories may be much larger then depicted.
Another map of caique territories the site webmaster found for comparison:
Caiques live along the Amazon basin in the wild, with the Black Headed to the north of the river in southern Colombia, eastern Ecuador and northern Brazil, and the White Bellied to the south of the river in northern Brazil and eastern Peru, south to Santa Cruz Province and Northern Bolivia. The white-bellied caiques usually inhabit lowland forests, preferring trees bordering watercourses. The black headed caiques prefer the savannas and tropical forests in the lowlands; they are only occasionally found at higher altitudes.
Distribution
A map showing the distribution of 196 observations of the Black-headed parrot,(black headed caique) Pionites melanocephala, in Suriname. Each small square indicates the observation of at least one (group) of these birds, the medium ones at least 4 observations on different days and the largest ones 10 or more. The color of each square indicates: blue for coastal area, yellow for savanna and red for rainforest.
Breeding Season
Because the two caique species differ in territory, their breeding seasons differ slightly. The Black-Headed caique's natural season is March to October, and eggs are incubated for 13-14 weeks.
The White Belly Caique's season is February to October, also with an incubation period of 13-14 weeks.
Did you know? In the wild, caiques do not have white bellies. The white is a product of captivity. Wild caiques rub against juicy plants and barks to give the white a rusty brown color instead.
It has been previously reported by Novaes (1981) that a clinical zone exists in Brazil in between the ranges of the yellow tail and green thigh caiques, and an 'intermediate' form of the bird is in existance. The picture to the left shows two yellow tail caiques, one with yellow thighs and one with green. This evidence supports the previous theory and hopefully will lead to more study of caiques in the wild.
Photo was taken at Cristalino Jungle Lodge in Brazil. Copyright www.surfbirds.com