Welcome to the Caique Room!

Wow after reading about these little guys they sure do seem energetic! And a big personality wrapped in such a small package! Here is some info that I found on these little cuties!

Caiques (pronounced ki-eeks) are fairly small extremely colorful parrots with a solid looking body and short, square tails. They average nine inches in length although the Yellow-thighed Caique does get a bit larger. Caiques are fairly new to the pet trade but are quickly gaining in popularity due to their beautiful coloring and friendly, playful personalities.

There are two species of Caiques, the Black Headed Caiques and the White Bellied Caiques, and five subspecies.

They derive their name from their white breast and belly which has a ruffled looked. A ruffled, white dress shirt is called a caique.

The White bellied Caique parrot has a mostly orange head. The sides of the head and the throat are yellow. The back and wing feathers are green. The belly and breast feathers are reddish-brown. On the White-bellied Caique the flank and thigh feathers are green. On the Yellow-thighed Caique the flank and thigh feathers are yellow and on the Yellow-tailed Caique the tail feathers are yellow. Younger White-bellied Caiques have more brownish feathers scattered in among the black head feathers.

The Black Headed Caique parrot has a mostly black head. This feathers on the cheeks, throat, flanks and thighs are an orange-yellow and there is an orange band across the back of the neck with a border of bluish feathers. The feathers on the wings, back, rump and upper tail are green. The belly and breast feathers are creamy-white and the tail feathers are the tip are yellow. Younger Black-headed Caiques have more yellow on their underside feathers and their yellow and orange parts are paler.

All Caiques come from South America. White-bellied Caiques are found mainly in Northern Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Black-headed Caiques are found mainly in the Guianas, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuala.

Caiques are not dimorphic. Gender identification must be done by DNA testing or a surgical probe.

Caiques are very energetic, playful, affectionate and intelligent. They are also very adaptable and will adjust easily to bird cages or aviaries. They do need a fairly high degree of commitment from the owner and will require a great deal of attention. The do enjoy interacting with other birds and with people. They love playing with toys and can be fairly noisy.

One interesting trait of the Caique is their habit of rolling on their backs and playing with toys with their feet.

Here is their diet-

In the wild Caiques live high in the tree tops and eat seeds, berries and fruits. Tame Caiques can be fed a commercial formulated diet of seed or pelleted food.

While a commercial formulated diet does meet most of the nutritional requirements of the Caique Parrot, it does lack the phytonutrients found in fresh vegetables, fruits, seeds and grains. A Caique can also become bored with a formulated diet. A good balanced diet for a Caique parrot will include a mixture of seed and pelleted food and a variety of fresh vegetables and fruit. Chickweed, dandelion leaves, green peas, sweet corn, carrots and carrot greens, beet greens, lettuce, watercress and sweet potatoes are excellent vegetables to offer your Caique. Caiques will also enjoy spinach and broccoli, which will have the added benefit of adding calcium to their diet. Fruits that Caiques will enjoy include, raisons, apples, bananas, peaches, pears, apricots, plums and bananas. Be sure to remove the seeds from the apples as they can be toxic. Caiques especially like walnuts and these can be offered as treats, especially during training.

Any fresh food that has not been eaten should be discarded after 24 hours.

Gravel and oyster shell can be offered as a calcium supplement and Caiques will enjoy having a cuttlebone to help keep their beaks trimmed and in good shape.

Additional vitamin supplements can be added to their drinking water or sprinkled on their food.

Offer your Caique fresh water several times a day. They do enjoy having a bath, so it is a good idea to supply a larger dish of water for bathing and a separate, smaller dish for drinking.

As with all birds, do not feed Nanday Conures, avocados, chocolate, coffee or salt. Chocolate and coffee contain theobromine, an alkaloid that is toxic to birds. Avocado is also toxic to birds. Foods with a high salt content are harmful to birds because they can not excrete salt.

And some training & behavior-

Caique parrots are very affectionate and social birds. In the wild White bellied Caiques generally live in pairs or small flocks and Black headed Caiques will live in flocks or family groups of as many as 30 birds.

Caiques love interacting with people and with other birds however they can be somewhat aggressive toward other birds. Because of this Caiques should not be left alone with other pets.

Caique parrots are very intelligent and enjoy learning and showing off their tricks. They are, however, very strong-willed and will need a firm hand in training and in any interaction. Timid handling of a Caique can cause it to become aggressive toward humans.

Give a newly purchased Caique a few days to adjust to its new cage and environment before handling it. If the Caique was handfed as a baby it can probably be handled immediately and may not need much taming.

Allow your new Caique to learn to trust you before beginning any training. Most parrots, including Caiques, seem to be more open to training at night with sessions lasting only about 20 minutes at a time. The first thing you should teach your Caique is to accept a treat from your hand. After the Caique will readily accept treats from you, begin teaching him to step up on your hand. When the Caique does step up on your hand, offer him a treat as a reward. Walnuts are great rewards for Caiques.

Caiques love to chew and to climb. Their cage should be a minimum of 24 X 24 X 24 with enough room for them to spread their wings and their tails should not drag on the bottom of the cage. Caiques are great chewers so the cage should be chew resistant metal. They will need at least two perches, one low enough for them to reach food and water and one high so that they can use it for a roost. They will chew on their perches so perches made of natural materials are best. Perches made of fruit wood, poplar and willow will help them keep their feet and beaks in shape.