Eclectus Parrots

I've only met an Eclectus parrot once and I suppose he was a young male since his beak wasn't a bright candy corn color combination. He was a scruffy little guy and at first I thought he was sick but I wasn't sure, hopefully he is doing well.
I'm told that Eclectus parrots are excellent speakers only behind African Greys and Amazons. However they are capable of speaking just as well if not better than Greys and Amazons. They are one of the mild mannered parrots that I've read about and are capable of training themselves with a little guidance and might learn not to defecate on your shoulder. Also they do not like cuddling because apparently they don't like ruining their feathers. These are all generalizations of course and no two parrot are a like.
Male Eclectus parrots are green with orange and yellow beaks when mature and female Eclectus parrots are red and purple with black beaks. The females are the dominant gender of the species and are typically more aggressive than the males. Their diet and lifespan confuse me since different sources have different views on diet and life span estimates. I would guess that their lifespan is probably similar to an African Grey which is about fifty years plus and as for diet I would ask a veterinarian.

Sources
http://www.avianweb.com/eclectus.htm
http://www.parrotparrot.com/articles/eclectus.html
http://www.parrotsecrets.com/Eclectus-Parrot/about-eclectus-parrot.php
The Simple Guide to Bird Care & Training by Julie Rach

Videos




African Grey




Amazon

Parrot Sitting

I don't know why I didn't type about this before but over the summer I was parrot sitting for two Quaker parrots for about a week. It was a lot of work but it was fun watching Kiki interact with the two other Quakers Sammy and Lola. Sammy was an aggressive five year old male Quaker with his flight feathers intact. Lola was a shy two or one year old female Quaker. Kiki acted like herself friendly and baby like. So it really was interesting watching three different Quakers interact. The only thing is I don't have any pictures or videos of there stay.

The tough parts of the job were cleaning three cages, changing food and water, and trying to keep the noise level down so my dad wouldn't go insane. Sammy's cage was the most difficult to clean since he was very territorial about it but I managed and even changing his food and water was difficult since I had to work swiftly in order to avoid a bite or be chased. Sammy behaved well away from the cage and allowed me to pet him. Though I wore gloves when handling him because I've seen what he's capable of. Lola was pretty easy to take care of compared to Sammy and of course I still gave Kiki plenty of attention.

The funniest and possibly most serious incident happened around the bathing dish. Lola was taking a bath and took her sweet time doing so. Sammy eventually grew impatient and flew into the dish and started to bathe himself and scared Lola off. Kiki also decided to bathe after they had. What I found strange was Lola's bathing habits she took the longest bath compared to Sammy and Kiki. I wish I video taped that while I still had my camera.

Thoughts on Parrots

Parrots are wonderful, brilliant, and diverse creatures and possess qualities that we find irresistable which just goes to show we (humans) really do have weak minds and a lack of self control. Thankfully the high price that comes with owning a parrot is enough to drive away most consumers. This is bad for business but good for parrots in a few ways because their are so many unwanted parrots in adoption facilities.

The high price of parrots might be a good thing because we are more likely be protective of something that costs more than something of a lesser value. I believe that all forms of life should be respected and cared for but sadly that is not the case and animals are still abused no matter what the price tag is. To understand parrots you need to step in their heads.

If I was a parrot I'd be okay with most things that a well providing owner. The only complaint I'd have is that I would want to fly freely where ever I chose to and be with my own kind. Parrots probably don't think like me but we do share common emotions of joy, lonliness, sorrow, and more but I'm pretty sure we would all like to be free of obligations, duties, pride, or a cage and just fly.

Parrot Equipment

A few essentials one should purchase include obviously a cage, cage cover, bird carrier, food and water dishes, cuttle bone, bath dish, toys, perches, and a first aid kit for birds. Of course their are ton of other things and you don't have to buy everything for example for a cage cover use a suitable sheet or blanket and for the bird bath use a dish or something that your parrot can bathe in. Also if you travel a lot you might want a cage suitable for traveling. These of course are the additional expenses when it comes to owning a parrot.

The cage is a must every parrot should have cage even though their are owners who allow them to live cage free. A carrier or traveling cage is also a must for safe and easy transportation for vet visits, outings, sun exposure, or emergencies. The cage cover is also a must to ensure adequate hours of darkness for a good nights sleep. You can either buy a cage cover or use old sheets. The cage cover should allow some light to pass through.

Then their are other obvious things your companion need like food and water dishes, toys etc. I recommend a first aid kit or at the very least some styptic powder in case of bleeding. It's is always better to have something and not need it then need it and not have it.

I didn't find a video relating to this and I been having trouble loading pictures onto blogger so here's a video of a dancing lovebird. Sadly my camera broke so I might not post my original pictures and videos any time soon except for the one that I haven't loaded up yet. By the way I don't think the lovebird is dancing it might be trying to mate like that Kapako had done in the other video.

Parrot Cages: Sizing and Material

The sizing depends on the species of the parrot and I have heard that bigger is better when it comes to the size of the cage. However sizing also depends on how much time the parrot spends in its cage. A parrot that only sleeps in its cage could do with a small cage relative to its species size though a parrot that spends around half a day or less in its cage would require a much larger one. The cage must be large enough to allow the parrot to flap its wings and accommodate a few toys. Also when it comes to sizing parrots require more length or width than height since they do not take off vertically.
The material that the cage is constructed of is crucial to your parrot's health since cages containing lead or zinc can result in the death of your parrot. Safe and strong materials suitable for parrot cages include stainless steel and wrought iron. I am unsure about the suitability of brass as a material for parrot cages since brass is an alloy of zinc and copper even though it is purportedly safe. Stainless steel cages are strong, durable, and much more long lasting than wrought iron. Wrought iron cages are painted by a method called powder coating which chemically bonds the paint to the metal. It is also important that the parrot cannot break the bars such as some macaws are capable of.

A Strange Parrot

A while ago I stumbled across this strange video:

Here's a link to page about this particular Kakapo in the video: http://www.kakaporecovery.org.nz/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92-sirocco&catid=42&Itemid=191
The parrot is called a Kakapo and I did a little research on it since that was the first time I have ever heard of it. Kakapos are flightless, they are the heaviest of species of parrots, and are nocturnal. Their faces resemble that of an owl and they have a greenish gray face. Their are about 124 Kakapos left and are monitored closely by a team focused on increasing their numbers in the wild. They are found only in New Zealand and are kept on two islands free of predators. I posted this for entertaining rather than my usual informative posts.

Sources
http://www.kakaporecovery.org.nz/
http://www.parrots.org/index.php/encyclopedia/profile/kakapo/

Kiki the Green Clown

Like most parrots I consider Kiki a generally funny, clever and smart parrot. Sometimes she has her temper tantrums and strange but typical parrot habits. One day I was sitting next her cage while she was eating and she started to dunk her pellets in her water. Not literally dunking but she would take a pellet with her beak, walk of to her water dish, crush the pellet which would fall in her water, then wait a while, and then fish it out and resume eating it. I guess she figured out how to make them softer or something because she does it over and over. This also explains why I have to constantly change her water. I wish I could have captured this on video but she stops doing anything that is even remotely interesting when she sees the camera.

However I don't know if playing with fallen feathers is a normal. Yesterday she lost a tail feather and when I picked it up she wanted it. So she wasted a good fifteen minutes playing and picking at her tail feather. I did manage to capture this on video and as soon as she stopped playing with the feather it was time to attack my camera. This morning though my mom screamed and Kiki screamed like a human along with her. She is a strange bird, but I guess most are like that.