Its almost October....

already, can you believe it? This year has just flown by!
With the coming of October I am proud to announce that the new issue of Good Bird Magazine (www.goodbirdinc.com) is out, and in it, an article written by moi! It is titled Learning From Mercy. If anyone gets the magazine, I'd love your feedback. I just learned about the publishing of it today, so am eager to see my copy. I don't know how much or what part of the original I sent in, so I am anxious to see how it turned out!

Everyone enjoy your transition into October!

A new presidential runner

Its been on everyone's minds: politics. Who are you voting for this election? Did you read the latest scandal? Blah.. blah... blah. We were talking politics on the forum and things got a little heated, so I pulled a prank to lighten the mood.



Vote Caique for 2008- the only politician that won't let you down!

I jest, of course. But thinking about it... wouldn't the world be better off if caiques did rule? I can see it now...

Caiques rule the world: until they forget what they are doing or find something more interesting to do, halfway through the program.

Housing crisis? No problem! Everyone is let out of their cages to roam and survive. Locked up no longer!

Gas prices? Who needs gas when you've got wings?

Economy in a slump? The bird says as long as you can still get food, you are OK!

Maybe its better if caiques don't rule the world, after all....

Honey I'm home!

Well we have safely arrived to our new house, and gotten the fidlets somewhat situated. The car ride was long, but that is a story for another day! We pulled in somewhere around 10 pm, after getting hopelessly lost. Seeing as how the caiques like to put themselves to bed at around 7:30ish, they were not happy about having to be up 'after dark.'



Here you can see how the birds were situated in the car. 2 in the seat up front, 2 in the back. These are their traveling cages, which I love. They are collapsible so they store easy, but they are sturdy and great for traveling. Each of the birds had 2 perches and 2 side mount toys, as they would be in their travel cages for an extended period of time since we had to load the van, then drive, unpack the van, and unpack and clean the cages over a period of about 5 days. For the drive they had fresh fruit, seed, and a smidge of water.

Lesson learned during this trip? When birds are screaming in the car cause its past their bedtime, a chip from the quickee mart makes for a good bribe to be quiet.

Moving with Parrots

Well, its that time of the year again: moving time! I just love packing all my belongings up in cardboard boxes, hauling it into a truck, fitting all the animals into the car, and driving to my new place of residence. NOT!
The parrots are not happy. Not happy at all. I had to take apart their 'caique condo' (see post in 07 for picture of the condo) so that it could actually fit in the truch- I assembled it inside the bird room and found that for whatever reason my doorways are not 50 inches wide. So the condo is safely awaiting its departure in the garage, and the caiques are in temp. 18 by 18 cages. Poor babies have to get by with only a couple perches and toys each. And they are not happy about this situation, not happy at all. Can't say I blame them- but their upset is driving me bonkers! They are complaining all day about their new arrangements.
Anyhow, the plan is to put the caiques, amazon, and parrotlets into travel cages, hook them into the car, and make the 2 hour trip to our latest destination. The caiques like car rides, so hopefully that will be enough stimulation to shut them up while we have the daunting task of unloading the moving van and trying to get some semblance of order in the house again. Once the van is unloaded the people have rested, we can get the cages back together and in their proper places. Until then the poor babies are going to be stuck in their temporary travel cages. Poor neglected things.
Just kidding about them being neglected, of course.
This week shall be interesting. I will be taking various notes for all parties interested, and shall have some funny stories (I am most certain of this!) when I return.

Hidden Gems

I love stumbling across hidden gems on the internet! Take the following pictures, for example.

This is a picture of a pallid caique, found on www.parrots.org website. The pallid is a subspecies of the black headed caique, and one that is rarely photographed.



This picture was labeled as a yellow thigh caique, when in actuality it is a green thigh, another rarely photographed subspecies.



This photo was unearthed at www.caiquesite.com Its so refreshing to see the little talked about subspecies finally get some photo recognition!



We end with another small picture of some green thigh caiques. Until recently the only picture I had ever seen of a green thigh was the one that appears on P Patch Parrots website!

If anyone has any other pictures of green thighs, pallids, yellow tails, or any other caique subspecies that are not commonly photographed, please send them this way! I want to make a gallery of all the photos for later use.

A blue caique?

Someone brought this to my attention via the caique forum. A picture was found, and posted, of a supposed blue mutation caique!
There has been a lively debate going on as to whether this mutation is possible. We know that other supposed caique mutations have been reported, yet there is only one living specimen that has yet to be positively identified.
Is this mutation fact or fiction? Personally I am leaning towards it being bunk- the way the orange on the nape still shines through the white makes me suspicious. Add to that, that the picture used is actually of a pair of pallid caiques, and this gets even curiouser! Pictures of pallid caiques are rare, to say the least. The probability of this mutation being real? Slim to none. But its an interesting thought, isn't it?

St. Vincent Amazon

While this is not about caiques, it definitely warrants a story.

Rare St. Vincent Parrot Hatched at the Houston Zoo!
Birth the First at the Zoo
Since 1999
On April 25, 1972 the Houston Zoo made history, recording the first hatching in captivity of an endangered St. Vincent Amazon parrot. That first birth was followed by a second hatching in 1999. Today, the Houston Zoo is proud to report that history has repeated itself again and Zoo bird keepers are caring for a St. Vincent Amazon that hatched on May 28, 2008. The chick has been named Vincent after the father of the first St. Vincent born at the Houston Zoo.
“The chick hatched after 25 days of incubation and is being hand raised at the Zoo’s off exhibit Avian Conservation Environment (ACE) building,” said Houston Zoo Bird Department supervisor Chris Holmes. “For the first 28 days Vincent was hand fed every two hours from 5 in the morning until midnight. He went home with me in the evening and came to work with me every morning,” said Holmes. Vincent was transported in a specially made climate controlled carrier.

Found only on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent in the Lesser Antilles, the St. Vincent amazon is officially classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the IUCN. The current wild population of St. Vincent’s is estimated at 800 individuals, despite numerous natural hazards and human encroachment into their habitat. Prior to 1898, the parrots were fairly common. However, two natural disasters took a heavy toll on their population after 1898. A devastating hurricane struck the island and was followed by the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano that crowns St. Vincent’s northern landscape. Though the population has increased since these disasters, the slow reproductive rate of this species makes this a long process.

With the end of the breeding season approaching, Vincent’s parents will be on exhibit again at the Houston Zoo by early August.