The Caique Site
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The Caique Manual
Introduction I have kept many parrot species, but in my judgment the caique is the best of all. They are intelligent, curious, stubborn, affectionate, fearless and devoted. They are sometimes referred to as "clowns" because of their amusing antics. Rosemary Low (1980), who wrote what may be the most definitive book available on parrot aviculture states, "No other parrot has a personality quite the same." For her, only the lories and fig parrots come close to comparing with a caique's disposition. A caique, however, may not be the best parrot for you if you absolutely have to have a bird that talks in a language you understand. Most learn, and several of my birds talk, but not all. They all learn to whistle. In fact, mine positively love to whistle along with me even though they cannot carry a tune very well. Birds kept as single pets usually learn to talk better than birds kept in groups. This is probably because they get individual attention. When they do talk, their voices are usually low and you need to listen carefully to decipher what they are saying. They can use words in context. They will greet you with “Hello” and ask “What ‘cha doing.” Still, do not expect the talents of an African Gray. If you own a caique, the first thing you should learn is the proper pronunciation of caique. If you look the word ‘caique’ up in a dictionary you will find it means a small sailing boat that plies the Bosporus. This is clearly not what we would call a caique, but is pronounced the same. The accepted pronunciation is a variation of "kigh-eek" or "kah-eek." You will hear many other pronunciations ranging from "cake" to "kike"--ignore them. It is important to know the correct pronunciation, otherwise, someone will either think you are talking about a sweet confection or making a slur when all you are trying to do is to tell them what kind of bird you have. Until the 1990's, most of the caiques for sale in this country were imported wild caught birds. Bronson, writing in 1950, states that although they were kept as pets in their native territory, in the United States, they could only be found in zoological gardens. With a few exceptions, the early imports did not make good pets. Most wild caught caiques cannot be handled without suffering a bloody bite. This was probably the experience of some writers before hand-fed babies were available. Cyril Rogers, writing in 1969, stated in his Pet Library's Parrot Guide that they were ".....more suitable as aviary birds than as cage pets." This has clearly changed! Hand reared caiques are one of the most desirable pet bird that you can have. Indeed, they have become so popular, that two pet bird magazines in the 1990’s had columns featuring caiques, "Kiwi's Corner" in Bird Times and "The Adventures of Spikey LeBec" in The Pet Bird Report. They may be now found populating the memoirs of famous persons such Igor, the caique in Peter Duchin’s autobiography. While caiques have had a recent surge in popularity as pets in North America (Bronson, 1950; Clubb, 1992; and Schubot, 1992), they were always popular with the natives of South America (Prestwick, 1955; Holland, 1971; Juniper, 1998, and Green Tracks; Wild Macaws Websites). Our discovery of their pet qualities has led to an increase in the number of people breeding them. Several years ago, if you scanned the ads in the The American Cage Bird Magazine, perhaps the largest listing of bird classifieds at one time but has since creased publication, there were only two or three ads offering caiques. Now if you look in the classified ads in BirdTalk, there are usually more than a dozen ads. Caiques are considered difficult to breed, but more people are attempting and succeeding. As a result, their breeding requirements are becoming better understood and domestically bred stock more available. The chief difficulty in breeding them is setting up compatible pairs. They are can be fussy about choosing mates. I have tried to set several pairs but I only have a few dependable ones. Part of the problem may be that my early breeding attempts were made with wild caught stock. Further, it has been my experience that older birds, especially former pets, are more difficult to set up. Some commercial breeders had early success because they purchased large numbers of birds when imports were still available and allowed them to pair themselves up. Another reason for the paucity of birds was that imported wild caught birds were not prolific breeders. Well-known breeders, such as Dr. George Smith, wrote that his pairs never bred more than once a year. However, in my experience, once they start laying eggs, it is not unusual for pairs to produce three or more clutches a year. Personally, I feel they should never be allowed to have more than two clutches a year. This is because the female often, but not always, takes on most of the responsibility for raising the chicks. She not only lays the eggs, but feeds the chicks after they hatch. This is surely exhausting and may be a reason the eggs in later clutches are smaller. Given that breeders are producing more caiques, you may wonder why caiques remain expensive. As usual, basic market forces are at work. As noted above, they have only recently become desirable pets, and there are too few of them to fill the demand. Another limitation on availability was the implementation of the Wild Bird Conservation Act that essentially ended the importation of new wild caught stock. Despite this, more caiques should become available in a few years. Until recently, most large breeders were holding back baby birds for setting up as breeders. This, combined with the good press in the bird magazines, has resulted in few birds being offered for sale. Caiques are likely to remain expensive for a while longer, but eventually this should change. Next
Page--Is a Parrot Right for You?
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