Australian Ringneck Parrots

Australian Ringneck Parrots

by Mark Holmes, Angaston, S.A.

Classification

The ringneck family of Australian parrots belong to the genus, Barnardius.  They are also referred to as Broad-tailed parrots.  The ringneck group are widespread throughout the drier areas of Australia and there are four main subspecies recognised, namely :

Twenty-eight parrot

Port Lincoln parrot

Mallee ringneck

Cloncurry parrot

A hybrid subspecies between the Port Lincoln and Twenty-eight parrot, the so-called wheatbelt hybrid or the yellow-fronted Twenty-eight parrot, also exists. All are widely kept in avicultural collections and are a worthwhile addition to any fanciers collection.

The Twenty-eight and Port Lincoln parrots and the wheatbelt hybrid are all very similar in coloration and I am sure there has been many a friendly argument on an aviary visit amongst aviculturists as to which is which.

Male/Female

In the Twenty-eight parrot, the sexes are alike in body colouration. It is a large bird, being approximately 40cm in length, of which 20cm is tail. The male however, is slightly larger than the female and has a broader head. Its head is dull black; lower ear coverts violet blue; it has a narrow yellow collar around the nape; the back and wings are bright green; the outer webs of the primary feathers are dark blue; the throat and breast are dark green; the belly is green; the underwing coverts are blue; the eye is brown; bill is pale grey; legs and feet are grey.  Both sexes have a red   frontal band across the top of the bill, as do the wheatbelt hybrids. The wheatbelt or yellow-fronted Twenty-eights as they are often called have the same colourings and markings, except the belly is yellow grading to a pale green towards the vent.

Immatures of both the Twenty-eight and the wheatbelt hybrid are duller than the adults with a brown hue about the head. The Twenty-eight has a tri-syllabic call, sounding like 'twenty-eight', as the last note is higher in pitch than the first two. This call has given rise to their common name.

The Port Lincoln parrot is also known as Bauer's parrakeet, Banded parrot or the Yellow-naped parrot, although these names are not widely used.

Once again the sexes are similar with the male being slightly larger with a broader head. They are 37cm in length, including 19cm of tail. The head is dull black; lower ear coverts are violet-blue; narrow yellow collar on the neck; back and wings are green; outer web of primary feathers are green, becoming blue towards the tips; the lateral feathers are blue edged with pale blue; the throat and breast are blue green and the belly yellow changing to a yellow green as nears the vent and undertail coverts.  Underwing coverts are blue; the eye is brown; the bill pale grey and the legs and feet are grey. Neither the male or female Port Lincoln has a red frontal band although some individual birds may have a small red spot above the bill. This is due to interbreeding, as the Twenty-eight, the wheatbelts and the Port Lincoln will readily hybridise. This is most noticeable in large numbers of trapped birds that dealers have on hand at times.

Immature Port Lincoln's are once again duller than the adults with the head having a brown hue.

The contact call is a high pitched whistling note, repeated rapidly several times. The alarm call is harsh and metallic, being very similar to that of the Mallee ringneck.

The Twenty-eight and Port Lincoln breed from August to February, mainly in central and southern Australia. Birds in northern Australia are known to start nesting as early as June, but this often depends on the rainfall. They often double brood in the wild although I have rarely heard of them double brooding in captivity.

Mating

There is a great activity at the start of the breeding season as the pair inspect every hole and hollow in the branches of a living or dead     eucalyptus tree, chattering incessantly and wagging their tails.  Once a breeding pair have selected a hollow they defend it vigorously against other parrots.

During the mating display, the courting male crouches in front of the female, squares his shoulders and wings and vibrates them slightly, with his tail fanned and moving quickly from side to side. While doing this he chatters constantly.

Nesting

They nest in a hollow limb of a eucalyptus tree, laying four to seven (usually four), rounded, white eggs 31x25mm in size.  The bottom of the   hollow is lined with wood dust as a soft bed for the eggs. Hens sit for 21 days and young fly after 30 days.

Distribution 

The Port Lincoln is widely distributed on the west coast of South  Australia around Kimba, north to Alice Springs, west from Alice Springs to the Western Australian coast, and the whole of WA below that line, except the south-west corner.  They are most common in most types of lightly     timbered country, from eucalypt woodland to mallee and dry acacia      scrubland of the central regions.

The Twenty-eight inhabits dense eucalyptus forests in the south-west of Western Australia.

Feeding

Twenty-eights and Port Lincolns feed on the ground or among the branches of trees and shrubs, eating a variety of seeds and plant food.

Behavior

These conspicuous birds are noisy and inquisitive. When disturbed they fly to a nearby tree, call excitedly and evaluate the danger before flying away. The alarm calls given by one bird quickly attracts others and soon the disturbance, be it a snake, goanna or other, is being investigated by a dozen or more chattering parrots.

Twenty-eights and Port Lincolns in an aviary have been known to be very aggressive towards their young when they have fledged and it is best to isolate the young as soon as they are independent. They have also been known to continually chase their young from the feed bowl, resulting in the death of the young birds.

Names

The Mallee ringneck parrot is also known as the Mallee parrot,   Ringneck parrot, Barnard's parrakeet or buln buln. It is often confused with its close relative, the Cloncurry parrot.  Both the Mallee ringneck and the    Cloncurry are the same size but their body colourings are different and more distinct than the Twenty-eight and Port Lincoln.

Size

They are approximately 34cm in length including 17.5cm of tail.

The male Mallee ringneck has an overall blue-green body plumage, a red frontal band above the beak and blue cheeks. They have a V-shaped brown-blue band extending from the eyes, back around the head, to meet a narrow yellow collar at the nape. There is an irregular band of orange-yellow across the belly, with the back and mantle a deep blue-black. The shoulders are yellow; the outer webs of the flight feathers blue, the underwing coverts also blue. The central tail feathers are blue with a faint edging of white. The eye is dark brown; bill is pale grey; feet and legs are grey.

The female is very similar to the male, but the back and mantle are a dark grey-green.  The hen is slightly smaller, especially in its head size.     Immature birds are duller than the female. The normal call sounds something like 'Kwink-Kwink-Kwink' and, when disturbed, the alarm call is a harsh     metallic shriek.

If feeding in branches or shrubs, they will utter a subdued chattering.

Mallees blend extremely well with their surroundings, either when feeding among the outer branches of eucalyptus or mallee or on the ground.

Diet

Their diet consists mainly of the seeds of grasses and herbs, fruit, blossoms, leaf buds and insects and their larvae, They are usually seen in pairs or family groups.

Breeding

The breeding season is usually August to January, but may be triggered by heavy rain. After choosing a hollow, the pair spend considerable time preparing it, lining the bottom of the hollow with decaying wood dust and making a shallow depression for the eggs.

The courting male crouches in front of the female, squares his  shoulders and wings and vibrates them slightly, with his tail fanned and  moving quickly from side to side. He also chatters constantly.

Four to six white eggs are laid (usually five); they are rounded and are 29x23mm in size. The female incubates the eggs for 20-21 days and the young leave the hollow after about 30 days.

While the female feeds in the early morning and late afternoon, the male sits in a nearby tree and warns of approaching danger.

The Mallee ringneck is common in mallee scrub, open woodlands

and in trees along watercourses and is distributed from the Murray Flats and Murray Mallee of South Australia, to the sunset country of north-west Victoria and western NSW. They are also seen in southern Queensland.

When seen in an aviary, their colouring may seem a bit ‘ordinary’, but when seen in the wild they are very impressive.

Soon after sunrise they leave their roosting perches, drink and move out to the feeding areas until mid morning. During the hottest part of the day they shelter in the trees or forage in the shade for seeds, fallen fruit and the like. Towards dusk they become active and feed and drink before roosting for the night.

The Cloncurry parrot is often confused with the Mallee ringneck in captivity. In the wild the Cloncurry parrot is restricted to the Selwyn Ranges in north-west Queensland.

The Cloncurry is of similar size and stature as the Mallee with the sexes alike.  The Cloncurry has a general plumage of pale green; no red   frontal band; a wide pale yellow band across the belly; the wing coverts are green; and the tail feathers get darker as they go down the tail, almost to a blue. The feet and legs are grey-brown. The female is paler than the male and slightly smaller. Immatures are duller than the adult birds and may posses a russet frontal band which disappears after a few months.

They have a call, courtship and mating habits very similar to a Mallee.  They seem to be a quieter bird and more docile among my collection of    ringnecks. The male Cloncurry is the clown of my collection, as he usually hangs upside down on the aviary roof and moves from one side to the other. He is usually seen to roost this way too.

Feeding

As far as feeding is concerned, ringnecks like a diet of small parrot mix comprising, for example, plain canary seed, grey sunflower (not black), hulled oats, pannicum, white millet and safflower.

They also relish a regular supply of fresh apple, silver beet, orange quarters, carrot, seeding grass, wheat, barley grass, millet sprays and sunflower heads.  Be careful with grass from the roadside as it may have been sprayed by the local Council.

They also enjoy almonds and nuts. Do not feed almonds that have been left to get damp. Make sure they are stored in a dry place and cracked when needed.

Housing

The floor of the aviary should consist of a sand or grit base, and cuttlebone and shellgrit should always be available. They also enjoy a fresh branch of mallee or other gum in the aviary every so often, chewing off the leaves and climbing all over it.

In all, I have found my collection of eight pairs of ringnecks, comprising three pairs of Port Lincolns, two pairs of Mallees, and one pair each of the Twenty-eight, wheatbelt hybrid and Cloncurry, a rewarding addition to my aviaries. One pair of Port Lincoln's are laying, and another is working their hollow, as is the pair of Mallees and the Cloncurry.  Most of my ringnecks are only 12 months old, so I am not over hopeful of achieving success just yet.

Some of mine are housed in adjoining aviaries, with heavy gauge 13mm mesh. I hope to have them in every second cage by next season as I build some more cages. My aviaries are all 2.4m deep, 0.9m wide and 2.1m high, except two which are 3.7m deep, 1.1m wide and 2.1m high. Their hollows are all 60-90cm long and hung at 45° angle, away from the afternoon sun.

Category › Australian Ringneck Parrots , Cloncurry , Mallee ringneck , Mallees , Parrot , parrots , pet bird , ringnecks

Rose-Ringed Parakeet

Most of us will see this bird in a pet store or in a cage as someone’s pet. Along with other parrots, they have been imported into our country and other countries because people like them as pets. Not only are they beautiful birds but they are very smart and can be taught to talk.   Some of these birds have escaped captivity and have been able to find their way to an environment where they have formed  breeding colonies.  Bakersfield, California has  one of the largest colonies of Rose-Ringed Parakeets in North America. [SinglePic not found] We went to Bakersfield to try to find them, but discovered that they are camouflaged in the tree canopy most of the time. However, since they are very social birds, we were finally able to locate them from all the noise and squawking they were making.

Description

The Rose-Ringed Parakeet is bright green with a yellow wash on its under parts, wings, and tail.  The tail is very long, and makes up the majority of the bird’s length which is about 16″.  The tail has a blue central tail feather bordered by green feathers also washed in blue.  The male has a black chin and neck band, and a rose colored ring around the nape of his neck.  This ring doesn’t develop until he is about 18 month old.   He also has a red hooked beak with a black tip and a black mandible.  A line goes from his yellow-white eye towards his beak. He has a red eye ring.  His feet and legs are grayish-green.  The females and juveniles do not have the ring unless it is just a faint darkening of the green feathers.  The female has shorter tail feathers and her back is washed in blue.  The juvenile looks like the female but has a pinkish beak with a pale tip and a whitish eye.

Range and Habitat

Rose-Ringed Parakeets are native to Asia and Africa; they are not native to the United States.  We have feral birds that have escaped captivity which have established stable populations in Florida, Hawaii and California.   In the wild they can be found in forests and arid environments.  In the United States, they are found in forests, marshes, farms, and grasslands and city parks.

Behavior

They are very noisy in groups with much screeching, whistling and squawking.  They travel in small flocks to find food.  They eat fruit, blossoms, nectar, nuts, berries and seeds.   They are very social, roosting, feeding and interacting together. Their flight is fast and direct and is very distinctive, with the head and body held in a straight line. These birds have been captured as pets for hundreds of years.

Breeding and Nesting

These birds do not mate for life but are monogamous.  The male courts the female by swaying from side to side, repeatedly lifting one foot, and leaning towards her stretching his body and neck.  He utters soft, low notes. They nest in tree cavities, usually abandoned woodpecker holes.  The female selects the nest and lines it with wood chips.  She lays 3-4 eggs which are incubated by both parents for about 22 days.  Both parents care for the young.  The young birds leave the nest in about 30 days.

Category › common parrot , parakeets , Parrot , parrot diet , parrot facts , parrots , Ring necked parakeets , rose ringed parrot , Rose-Ringed Parakeet , Rose-Ringed Parrot

Parrot Behavior

Ten-year-old umbrella cockatoo Angel rips up the woodwork, and her owners rapidly lose patience with the constant repairs.

Myrtle, a 5-year-old yellow-naped Amazon, screams every morning at sunrise, and her owners can no longer enjoy sleeping late on weekends.

Nine -month-old Congo grey Marti suddenly bites viciously and draws blood “for no reason.”

All of these birds “used to be fine,” according to their owners. What has happened to change them so completely from “good” to “bad?” Is it someone’s fault that things went wrong, and if so, whose?

Angel’s chewing the woodwork is clearly not Angel’s problem. She is obviously having a grand time. The chewing of wood is a natural psittacine behavior, and it is built into parrots’ DNA. Parrots cannot be expected not to chew. So Angel is not being “bad.” Instead, Angel is just being a parrot.

Consequently, chewing woodwork is a human problem, not a parrot problem. By far the easiest way to prevent the chewing of woodwork (and furniture, upholstery, lamps, computers, sound systems, important papers, etc.) is to prohibit the parrot contact with it.

Chewing on wood is a behavior embedded in psittacine psyche. Therefore, wood needs to be provided for safe and satisfying chomping. Indeed, many parrot owners find that frequent offerings of safe woods with bark and leaves (not chemically sprayed, please) can effectively distract that psittacine beak for hours at a time. So instead of trying to change a natural behavior (both impossible and detrimental), look for ways to step around the problem.

The situation of Myrtle’s early morning singing/screaming also falls into the pet bird owners problem not bird’s problem. Myrtle, the yellow nape, is only doing what comes naturally to many species of birds when she performs her morning arias. Ornithologists have repeatedly documented a phenomena called “The Dawn Chorus,” when many avian species loudly proclaim the joy of the new day, the rising of the sun, their survival through the night, the borders of their territory, etc.

Does this mean anyone who lives with psittacines has therefore signed away his or her sleeping late for as long as they both shall live? Not necessarily. Circumventing an apparent instinct, however, should only be done occasionally and only with forethought.

Rather than give up his beloved languorous sleep-in Sunday morning, one ingenious client hit on the perfect compromise with his green-winged macaw. Every Saturday night, he would put his macaw to bed per usual in his sleep cage, which was set up in an unoccupied guest room. This room was equipped with blackout shades and a white noise machine. The shades totally blocked out the light, and the white noise machine blocked the early morning sounds of the birds outside, allowing blissful late sleep on Sunday mornings. So this sensible gentleman developed a compromise between his once-a-week luxury and his macaw’s natural behavior.

The situation with Marti, the 9-month-old Congo grey that bites for no reason is a sad example of blatant cross-species miscommunication. It is a misconception that any animal does something “for no reason.” Instead of, “for no reason,” the words should be rephrased to say, “for no reason the humans understand.”

Because all animals do things for a reason, there is a rationale for the grey’s aggression. The human needs to figure out what that motivation is, and eliminate it.

In Marti’s case, after much analysis, the owners were startled to realize that Marti’s aggression was totally predictable. He was most likely to bite when someone was trying to pet him. More scrutiny revealed that there were multiple steps that led up to the grey’s assault.

Prior to biting, if he could, Marti would scamper away from the hand that was trying to pet him. If he could not move away, he would lean way back and growl when the hand tried to reach around him to stroke him. As the human persisted in the attempts to pet him, Marti would gently, but firmly push away the offending hand repeatedly. Then he would escalate to nipping, and finally resort to drawing blood.
When analyzed in this manner, the picture changes quite dramatically. Instead of the grey viciously attacking, we have an animal that is simply trying to politely discourage a behavior he does not enjoy, only resorting to violence when the human completely fails to understand the bird’s multiple attempts to communicate politely.

If your answer is that the parrot should want to be petted, then I am afraid you misunderstand something very fundamental about psittacines and animals in general. I have worked with many different species of animals over the years, both avian and mammalian, domestic and wild, and I have come to a uncomplicated conclusion regarding petting.

Simply put, there is only one animal on this planet that is likely to want to be petted whenever a human wants to pet it, and that animal is the dog. (We cat owners already know what happens if we try to force ourselves on a cat when it is not in the mood to be petted!) And a parrot is not “a dog with feathers.”

Marti’s owners wish to interject that it is a recent development that Marti stopped wanting to be petted, so they are justified in their confusion as to his motivations. After all, if he used to like it, then why doesn’t he like it now?

This raises another issue entirely. The reality is that parrots are extremely long-lived, intelligent animals, and with intelligence and long life come the ability to change. For several years, my niece used to eat only one brand of cereal for breakfast. She can’t even stand to look at the box, now. As a young adult, I adored putting together plastic models, but those little, teeny pieces drive me buggy, now.

We humans generally change a lot through the years and so do parrots. Marti is starting to grow up, which is not to be confused with “becoming hormonal.” As an integral part of no longer being a baby, Marti is beginning to develop some independence (visualize an 8-year-old boy, here) and form his own opinions about things.

For instance, he is changing his attitude toward being petted. He may have enjoyed cuddling and stroking as a baby but, like most 8-year-old boys, he is developing a strong resistance to it now.

Just because Marti’s owners want to pet him does not make Marti bad because he does not wish to oblige. I am not someone who wishes to be touched by lots of people, and I have the perfect right to enforce my beliefs if someone steps over that line. So do parrots.

When we parrot people find ourselves in conflict with our psittacines, we need to step back from the situation and try to gain some perspective as to what is actually happening. Careful and perceptive observation of psittacine body language is immensely useful.

By paying careful attention, we often find that our birds are clearly communicating why they are doing what they are doing. By watching for patterns, we can learn what situations can get our parrots into trouble and easily avoid them. With careful analysis, we usually find that parrots are only being parrots and, as the “higher life forms” that we like to consider ourselves to be, it is up to the humans to figure out a compromise.

Living with a parrot means living with instinctual behavior. Expecting a parrot to be something other than a parrot is futile and sure to end in failure for all concerned. Some behaviors are instinctive (like chewing and vocalizing), and instinctive behaviors are not “bad.” Caretakers need to evaluate each situation and determine the basis for the behavior and proceed accordingly.

Thanks to miscommunication and misunderstanding, many companion psittacines behave in unacceptable ways, such as screaming for hours or biting everyone around them. It is important for parrot people to understand that negative behaviors need not be written in stone. These behaviors can be changed with patience, understanding and consistency. In other words, a parrot is never a lost cause.

Category › aggressive bird , bird behavior , birds , parakeet , Parrot , parrot behavior , parrot care , parrots

Do You Want To Pet Parrots?

Author: varron
Birds like Parrots come in many different varieties. They also have many varieties in color which ads to their beauty and attraction. Some peoples are attracted to parrot not only because they are beautiful creature rather, they also posses some qualities such as intelligence.
People who used to have Parrots as pets took good care of these creatures in their own ways. In petting Parrots, first you must determine what kind of parrot specie you have.
Parrots usually have similar diets such as fruits and vegetables,parrot pellets, parrot seed mix. The Parrots also needs a lot of waters everyday.
Parrots likes to live in a clean surroundings that's why to maintain the cleanliness of the area where they live is a must.
In cleaning their cages it should be remembered that the cages should not be applied with bleach, the reason is that the Parrots could get be irritated with the ammonia from bleach. It is better to use mild soap and water in cleaning their cages. Owners of the Parrots should also be aware with cages physical damages such as rust and sharp parts which could hurt the Parrots eventually.
It is also important to wash the hands first before handling the parrots to keep them from possible contamination. There are research that shows that human saliva can endanger the Parrots, the reason why Parrots exposure to human saliva should be avoided.
The beak and the nails of the Parrot grows continuously the reason they should be cut frequently. The wings should also be clipped to avoid the Parrots from flying away. It is also important to bath parrots with clean and fresh water everyday if possible to make them clean and fell fresh.
In selecting cages for Parrots, it should be considered that Parrots needs to extend their wings that's why it is important to choose larger cages for them.
Parrots usually lives for longer years if given proper care and attention. Petting parrots also provides commitment and dedication. Some of the Parrots owner treat their pets as a close friend.
Parrots gives their owners with the joy and comfort of feelings. As for the owners, petting parrots makes them feel better as it relieves their stresses in everyday activity.
Petting animals like Parrots provides human with some benefits. It might make you spend money but in return, this investment will gain you some sort of benefits that can be emotionally felt.
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/bird-watching-articles/do-you-want-to-pet-parrots-5245438.html

Category › attraction , beauty , bird , cages , color , different , do you want , fruits , human , intelligence , parrots , pellets , pet , petting , qualities , seed mix , specie , varieties , vegetables