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The Caique Site

Welcome to the Caique Site.

Latest addition to Picture Archive. This yellow-thighed caique (P. l. xanthomerius) appears to be a new mutation. It is more than two years old, so it is not a juvenile phase coloring. It clearly is expressing less then the normal amount of melanin in its feathers. It is difficult to classify the type of mutation from the photo, but it is not sex-linked. The owner says he owns birds of both sexes with this coloration. The owner would like to know its value. (Photo used with permission of the owner.)

Latest updates and reminders:

● I have some black-headed caique chicks for sale. If you are interested send me an email at Caiquesite@gmail.com. Posted July 20, 2008.

● Many of you know that I have been writing a book on caiques. Its title will be Caiques. Their Care, Breeding and Natural History. I think I have found a publisher, but the book will not be out until 2009.

● I have updated the section on Dangerous Foods. Having realized that most of the information about toxicity of foods on other websites, in magazines and even in books is such a muddle of fact and fiction, I had to seek out solid, unbiased information.

● William T. Cooper, who painted all the parrots for Forshaw's Parrots of the World, has a very good website showing much of his recent work. I highly recommend a visit.

● I have added links to the Spanish language website Joan's Caiques, French language website Les caiques, and a website in both Portuguese and Spanish Caique. Even if you cannot read Spanish or French or Portuguese, these sites contain plenty of photographs and videos of caiques including some of the green-thigh that is still rare in the United States.

● The 2008 convention of the American Federation of Aviculture will be July 29 - August 2 in St. Louis, Missouri. For more information go to the AFA website.

● The Barber Institute of Fine Arts in Birmingham, England had an exhibit entitled "The Parrot in Art." It ended on April 29, 2007 but the website is still up.

● The New York Times has published an interview with Joseph Forshaw, author of many books on parrots including Parrots of the World, on September 5, 2006. This is a man who truly loves parrots.

● The late Alba Ballard was famous for dressing up parrots. The New York Times presents a slide show from Arne Svenson's book "Mrs. Ballard's Parrots." Alba dressed up her parrots in stylish clothes and photographed them. Her menagerie included yellow-thighed and black-headed caiques.

© 2001 through 2008 by John McMichael. First posted on net May 19, 2001 and periodically updated. All rights reserved. No part of this website may be commercially reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or via any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the copyright holder. Please notify the author of any errors or omissions.

I wish to acknowledge the staffs of the Library of Congress, Carnegie Museum Library, Cornell University Library, Rochester Public Library, and the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. I am also indebted to the many caique owners and breeders who have shared their knowledge. I especially want to thank Ms. Terri Fields for her assistance in obtaining many of the references cited in this website.

This web site is devoted to the medium sized parrots called caiques. These feisty birds are rapidly becoming popular pets. To learn more about them, click on the hyperlinks on this page.

Caiques are divided into two species and five subspecies*. Because the common name can vary from country to country, and even from person to person, the following common English names are used in this site:

Pionites melanocephalus = Black-headed caique

Pionites melanocephalus melanocephalus = Black-headed caique.

Pionites melanocephalus pallidus = Pallid caique.

Pionites leucogaster = White-bellied caique

Pionites leucogaster leucogaster = Green-thighed caique

Pionites leucogaster xanthomerius = Yellow-thighed caique

Pionites leucogaster xanthurus = Yellow-tailed caique

*Note Pionites, the Latin genus name, is considered masculine gender. According to taxonomic rules, the species and subspecies names are adjectives of the genus name and should have same gender. Thus, the correct species name is P. melanocephalus. One often sees P. melanocephala as the scientific name for the black-headed caique. I suspect this due to the earlier use of the genus name Caica. Caica is feminine in Latin, and melanocephala would have been the correct species name if Caica had been retained. David and Gosselin (2002) provide more details on this.

Guide to information in this site:

The Main Caique Manual. This is the core of the site. It contains 31 sections of information related to the keeping of caiques gleaned from published reports and the author's own experience.

Caique Food Manual. This is a set of pages about the caique's favorite foods--those that are safe to feed, some that are unsafe to feed, and a bit about what they eat in the wild.

Common Names for Caiques. This is a list of common names for the different species and sub-species of caiques in several languages.

Early Caique Breeding Records. This is a table of breeding records from before 1980 when the breeding of caiques was considered a rare event.

Parrot Glossary. This is a large glossary of terms related to parrots that I have gathered over the years.

Bibliography. These are references consulted in the preparation of The Caique Site.

Sanitizers and Disinfectants. This is a list and description of sanitizers and disinfectants used for cleaning bird cages and equipment.

Links to other websites:

Emergency Links. These are links to sites that deal with veterinary emergencies and loss of birds.

Parrot Research Links. These are sites where you may learn more about aviculture, avian medicine and avian conservation.

DNA Sexing links. These links connect you to companies that offer DNA sexing of birds.

Aviaries and Zoo Links. This is a list of public Zoos and Aviaries of interest to caique and parrot owners.

Government Links. These are links to Federal, state, and CITES treaty regulations related to pet bird ownership.

Non-Profit Organization Links. These links connect to national and international organizations interested in parrot conservation and aviculture.

Other Websites and Chat Sites. This is a list of links to other sites containing good caique information. Some are commercial sites.

Arts, Crafts, etc. These are links to sites selling fine arts, crafts and other items related to caiques.

Posada Amazonas and Tambopata Research Center. This page describes a trip five other parrot lovers and I made to Peru in November, 2001.

Brazil: Pantanal, Serra da Araras, Cristalino Lodge, and Humaitá. My search for the yellow-tailed caique.

To send me an email message click here: Caiquesite.