Locating The Grey-cheeked Parakeets:
As I mentioned on the Canary-winged pages, it was suggested to me by fellow aviculturists to try and breed the Grey-cheeked Parakeets (Brotogeris pyrrhopterus) as well. So I went in search for them. I quickly regretted passing on the other pairs first offered to me as I had no idea how difficult the challenge would be to obtain them. However I was not going to give up. It took almost 1 year to locate 30 Grey-cheeked parakeets (actually a few more, but I passed a few of them on to friends in need). They vary in age from 3 months old to imported birds being around 11 years old. I have wild caught, handfeds, and domestic parent-raised birds. My search was very intense and went across the USA. I have since brought in birds from, South Carolina (2), Minnesota (4), Washington (6), California (15), Illinois (2) and Ohio (1). I will continue my search and my aviaries are always open for any Brotogeris (Grey-cheeked, Canary-winged, White-winged, Orange-chinned, Cobalt-winged, Tui, Plain and Golden-winged Parakeet). Sometimes you will find these birds called BeeBee's or pocket parrots, but whatever people call them, they will always be welcomed here, no matter the age or sex. I have disposable ear plugs for all my friends and family. :))
Housing:
After a very long quarantine period, I am ready to put the birds into a flock setting. I am still working on building flights for them. One is complete the other in progress and should be ready by Spring 2002. I have two pairs set-up outside already in single cage settings and will hold open some additional smaller cages in case of aggression problems. The birds are proving to be very hardy and have breezed by our Valley's Summer heat and now they are in the middle of very cold Winter. The birds are doing very well and show no signs of stress.
One major challenge I am facing, is finding anyone who has attempted to raise these birds in a colony setting. There is much talk about aggression and the fact that they will kill each other. I feel most aviary deaths occur because the owners were not being observant enough to see the problems and intervene or correct them. To address the agression issue, I have decided to modify my colony set-up. One of the things we can't duplicate in an aviary setting that the birds have in a natural setting, is the ability to get away if there are squabbles/aggression. I have decided to connect two flights together with a large tunnel the birds can fly between. One flight is 8'X 4'x7'tall and it will be connected to a flight that is 8'x 6'x 7' tall. The tunnel will be approx. 18"x18". This will give the birds a chance/ability to escape from each other. Will this the measure help? I do not know. I will update everyone when the birds give me the answers. I have chosen to put the Grey-cheeked Parakeets in a colony setting to allow them the freedom to pick their mates, nest sites and which flight they want to live in. I am hoping that like the Canary-winged colonies, I will not have problems as predicted by so many. The birds enjoy flying about. After all, that is what they are designed to do and I feel flight is very important to these small parrots overall mental and physical well being.
Diet issues:
I have decided not to feed my birds any pellet diets. I hear of more harm than good being done to the smaller birds. All birds are seasonal feeders and when feeding in nature they simply don't get the same amount of nutrients, vitamins, minerals, etc on a daily basis. I feel that if they are forced to have something their bodies are not utilizing everyday, we can overload them and cause early deaths. Birds cycle their breeding seasons to correspond with the season where many foods are available. Raising chicks requires a great deal of food and the birds take all that mother nature offers them. So I control the food availablity to seasons. During the winter months, things are lean and will consist of a daily varieity of seeds, and one of the following (apple, cranberries, pomagrantes,carrots, broccoli, mango, oranges, etc.) and Berry wheat bread. They also are always supplied with cuttle bone and Manu clay as well as fresh water for bathing and drinking. I will not start adding lots of variety again until early Spring. I have found the unlimited supply of fresh foods helps bring the birds into breeding condition so I try to control the timing of it to correspond with the warmer California Valley Spring. At that time I can also offer fresh tree blossoms. I believe that live birds should have live foods.
Visit the ~Secret Garden Aviary~ Grey-cheeked parakeets:
I set up a picture page to feature our wonderful group of Grey-cheeked parakeets and their aviaries. Just click on the Humming bird below and see the Grey-cheeked Parakeet Picture Page.
I am not certain which will be the bigger challenge, finding the birds or breeding them. Time will only tell.
Please come back and visit again. I will be updating on a regular basis with photos and information.
