Distribution
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.
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