Necklace parrots: species, keeping and breeding

Necklace parrots are very smart and friendly. Therefore, these birds cause great sympathy among a wide audience, and every year there are more and more people who want to have such a pet at home. In some sources, necklace parrots are called ringed parrots. Initially, this breed lived on the African and Asian continents. Later, parrot necklaces were brought to Australia and India, where they formed new species.

The body length of an adult individual, depending on the species, can be in the range of 30-50 cm, wingspan - 15-16 cm, total weight - about 150 g. The tail of the bird is long, multi-layered, wings are long, pointed at the ends, legs are short and slightly developed, but the beak is quite large, so when walking the parrot uses it as an additional support.

The main color of the parrot is usually emerald green, and around the neck there is a decoration in the form of a dark strip. It looks like a necklace, and from it came the name of the breed - necklace. From this necklace you can determine the gender of the bird. It is found only in the male, and in the girl this decoration is traditionally absent: like most bird species, the parrot males have a brighter color in order to attract the attention of the female. The wings above are spotty, yellow-green, and below - gray, around the eyes there is an orange halo, the beak is bright red.

You can determine the age of an adult by several signs. The older the bird, the more intense its beak and plumage. In a young parrot, the beak is pale pink, and a characteristic colored border appears at about 6-7 months of life.

At the age of one year, the bird begins to molt, and it was during this period that that recognizable necklace began to appear. At first, the decoration is barely noticeable, but finally it will form by the age of three. In addition, the two main tail feathers of the chicks grow to six months, at an earlier age they are absent.

In nature, necklace parrots live in a tropical climate; they prefer to settle in huge flocks of up to several hundred individuals, crowding out other bird species. In search of food they fly out of the nests in the early morning and evening, when there is no sweltering heat from which they hide during the day in the shadow of thick branches. They feed on plant foods: fruits, grass, leaves and seeds of plants.

The female lays eggs 2 times per season (some species 3 times), usually from 2 to 4 pieces. Chicks appear in about a month, and after another one and a half to two months they are ready for independent life.

The genus of ringed parrots currently has 13 species.

• Pink-breasted (Psittacula alexandri). The size of the adult is 30-35 cm, the tail length is 22 cm. The main color of the plumage is green, the head is blue, there are black stripes on the forehead, the breast and part of the abdomen are pink. It lives mainly in some provinces of India, where it settles in huge flocks and ravages rice and other agricultural plantations, for which it is subjected to mass destruction by people.

• Emerald (Psittacula calthropae). It lives in Sri Lanka. It has a body size of 30 cm and a tail length of 13 cm. The main color is blue-green, the head and upper body are blue with a grayish tint, and there is a bright green necklace on the neck. The main feathers on the tail are also blue, and the tip of the tail is yellow. In the male, the beak is red-brown, in the female - black.

• Gray-headed (Psittacula caniceps). In some sources it is indicated as plum-headed. The sizes are large - in length it can grow up to 50-55 cm. The head, as the name implies, is gray, with a bluish tint, there is yellow fluff on the cheeks and ears. In places there are wide black stripes, a bright orange fringing around the eyes. It lives on the coast of the Indian Ocean. Little studied view.

• Malabar (Psittacula columboides). It lives in some parts of India. The length of the body is standard for the genus Necklaces - 35-36 cm, the length of the tail feathers - 20-25 cm, the upper part of the body is gray, the lower green with a bluish hint. Around the eyes, on the abdomen and lower part of the tail, the male has a yellow-green fluff. In females, blue tones predominate in color.

• Red-headed (Psittacula cyanocephala). Settlements of red-headed ringed parakeets can be found in India, China, Nepal, some areas of Pakistan, as well as in Sri Lanka. They prefer a tropical climate. This type of ringed is considered one of the most beautiful. The main plumage of a saturated emerald color slightly casts olive. Head and neck are dark cherry with a slight bluish tint. On the wings and on the neck there are black marks, the beak of males is light yellow, and of females is red.

• Mauritius (Psittacula echo). The length of the adult individual is 42 cm; it lives in Madagascar, Mauritius and some other islands of the Indian Ocean. A rare, endangered species. Today, the population is about one hundred individuals, mainly males.

• Alexandrov (Psittacula eupatria). Another major representative of the genus Necklaces - can grow up to 60 cm. It lives in some areas of South and Southeast Asia, the Andaman Islands and Sri Lanka. The color is traditionally green; the males have a pink and black necklace on their neck.

The view is amenable to learning, can remember up to 15 words. In cells and aviaries he lives for a long time. It is divided into 5 subspecies depending on the details.

• Finsha Parrot (Psittacula finschii). The length of the bird is 35-40 cm, the color is green with red foci, the head is gray. It lives in Thailand, China, Vietnam and other areas of Asia. Its feature is that it can live at an altitude of several thousand meters above sea level.

• Himalayan (Psittacula himalayana). It lives in India and Vietnam. Color and size are identical to the previous look. The female has a paler color, and unlike the males, she does not have red stripes on the wings. It is divided into two subspecies living in different areas.

• Indian Ringed (Psittacula krameri). It lives in parts of Africa and South Asia. It is considered the largest population among parrots. Prefers to settle in the immediate vicinity of a person. The main color of the bird is green, under the color of foliage, with a blue tint, there are several black feathers on the wings, a head with a bluish tint, a narrow black stripe from the beak to the forehead, two strips on the neck - black and bright pink, the breast part of the male is black , the female has green.

• Filamentous ringed (Psittacula longicauda). The homeland is Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore. Body size - 40 cm, tail length - 25 cm. Body color is green, the beak of the male is red-brown, and of the females is black. There are red stripes on the head. Five different subspecies of the parakeet living in different areas are counted.

• Pink-headed ringed (Psittacula roseata). Habitat - India. Prefers forest areas, settles in small groups. Body length - 35 cm, color green, head gray-blue, red-brown shapeless spots on wings. Males have a melodic timbre, a calm character, are well trained, but they are practically not trained in human speech.

• Chinese Ringed (Psittacula derbiana). The bird is large, with a body up to 50 cm and a tail about 30 cm long. It lives in the southern provinces of China and India. The body color is green above and lilac-blue below. Between the eyes and on the neck, black stripes, the breast and the main feathers on the wings are painted in gray-blue. We are well trained in human speech.

Necklace parrots are unpretentious in everyday life and do not require any special conditions for proper care. The main condition for their proper maintenance is the presence of a large cell, or better, an aviary. Since the bird does not have strong paws, it prefers to move in flight. And for this she needs space.

The minimum allowable cage sizes for a parakeet are 70 cm in height and 50 cm in length. And if the male is supposed to be kept together with the female, it is better to choose a room with an area of ​​at least 2-3 sq. m. And even if the aviary is spacious enough, it is necessary to release a parrot from it daily, so that it can spread its wings and train muscles in flight.

In the cage, there must be several bars and many toys. It can be ladders, bells, a mirror and other interesting objects. With a sufficient number of different attributes, parrots perfectly tolerate loneliness.

The life span of a necklace parrot often depends on its conditions. According to statistics, in captivity, parrots live much longer than in the wild. If you ensure optimal living conditions and constant attention and care on the part of the owner, then the life expectancy of a parrot will average 50 years.

Separate cases are also known when parrots of this breed survived to 70 years. But in nature, parrots rarely cross the age barrier of 10-15 years. This is due to the fact that in artificial conditions snakes and other enemies in nature do not attack birds. In addition, in captivity, parrots have a well-balanced diet and there is no need to get food on their own.

Ensuring proper feeding of the parakeet is not a big deal.

• The main component of the nutrition of parrots in captivity is a grain mixture, consisting of 35-40% of millet and various additives in equal parts: sunflower seeds, food for canaries, oats or oatmeal, wheat grains.
• To diversify the diet of a parrot, you can add fresh vegetables, boiled eggs, low-fat cottage cheese to the food and sometimes feed it with unsalted hard cheese.
• Occasionally, a parrot can be given peeled walnut kernels, but in limited doses, since they contain a lot of fatty amino acids.
• Parrots love to gnaw on various objects, so you can periodically throw small wooden twigs into them, as well as leaves of domestic plants. The main thing is to ensure that they are not poisonous.

So that your pet does not get sick, you must follow basic hygiene measures. In addition to daily cleaning of the cage, the parrot should be bathed periodically. The bird should be trained in water procedures gradually so as not to scare away. To get started, try sprinkling lightly on it through the rods from the spray gun.

When the parrot gets used to this custom, you can put a container of water in the aviary so that it splashes on its own there. If there is no rejection, put the cage with the parrot in the bath and water it from above from the shower. Some owners teach the bird to bathe right in the bathroom without a cage.

A parakeet is able to withstand sudden changes in temperature, however, the most comfortable conditions of detention are 20-25 degrees Celsius and humidity not less than 60%. Parrots stay awake for exactly half a day. Therefore, in winter, they need to artificially extend daylight hours with the help of additional lighting, and in summer, on the contrary, cover the cage with a dark cloak to provide them with a good rest.

In the same way, they can be reassured if the bird begins to bother with its unpleasant cry. This feature is present in most representatives of this genus. For example, the Indian ringed parrot often makes sharp and very unpleasant sounds for human perception.

Necklaces are valued for their good-natured disposition, the ability to quickly tame and the ability to learn to talk. Parrots of this breed feel great in close proximity to people. Much is said about their intelligence and learning ability. If you take a young chick up to a year, then you can teach him to sit on his hand or shoulder on the owner, take food from his hands and some other techniques. But the main thing why many choose this particular parrot breed is to teach them how to speak.

To train a parrot in human speech, it is necessary to systematize the learning process. Since it will take more than one day, you need to have endurance and patience. Numerous observations show that parrots best perceive the female and children's timbre of voice, as they have a finer register. Males learn faster than females, but it has been observed that diction in females is much better.

The bird can achieve the best results if it is kept alone. Individuals living in pairs learn much worse. To get speech success, you need to repeat the parrot short phrases or 1-2 words every day.Necklace parrots are able to remember up to fifty words.

Necklace parrots breed well at home. Offspring can be expected from a couple at the age of three years - it is by this age that the physiological development of birds is fully completed. In addition, younger individuals hatch eggs poorly, and when chicks appear, they are poorly taken care of. If the bird is old, this is also not very good - there will be weak offspring from it.

To get offspring you need to create a pair of comfortable conditions. For their maintenance, it is better to purchase a house with a width of at least 50 cm, a height of 150 cm and an entry hole with a diameter of 7-10 cm. At the bottom you need to lay something soft - sawdust or peat, creating the illusion of a real nest.

The nesting house should be equipped with a crossbar so that it is convenient for the birds to enter their home. It must be installed a few centimeters below the entrance of the house. If the floor area in the house is too small, the chicks will be crowded, and they can cripple each other. For the entire time that the birds will mate, they need to be given special vitamins, add more vegetables and fruits to the diet, as well as sprouted grain.

To control the climatic conditions inside the room where new offspring are bred, you need to arm yourself with a thermometer and a hygrometer to measure humidity. To improve air quality, it is advisable to install an ionizer in the room. Besides, it is necessary to regularly air the room.

Almost all diseases that appear in parakeets arise from improper care. Consider the most common diseases.

• Smallpox - manifested in the absence of appetite, a decrease in activity. It may be accompanied by vomiting, the appearance of a white coating on the tongue and (or) an abscess on the head.
• Psittacosis transmitted through litter and manifested by muscle cramps and mucous secretions. Sometimes a disease can cause paralysis. At home is less common than in nature.
• The presence of parasitic worms or worms, which can be transmitted from other individuals. The disease is not amenable to treatment, manifested in the refusal of food, inhibited reaction.
• Tracheal tick. Symptoms - sore throat, sneezing, vomiting.
• Escherichiosis - intestinal infection and changes in its microflora. The disease can occur as a result of stress or due to malnutrition. Manifested in the absence of appetite and apathy.
• Newborn chicks are often diagnosed with eversion of the legs. This is a sign of a nervous system disorder, which may be caused by a lack of vitamin B. Such chicks are not viable.

To reduce the risk of contracting infections and viruses, it is necessary to clean the cage daily: thoroughly wipe all objects in it, wash dishes for food and drink, change food and water daily. At the first sign of suspicious bird behavior, contact your veterinarian immediately. Before releasing the parrot from the cage, it is necessary to check whether the window and doors are closed so that the bird does not fly out into the street.

In some cases, a sick bird can be recognized already at the purchase stage.In a healthy individual, the plumage should be shiny and smooth to the touch, and also fit tightly to the body. If the feathers are dirty, puffing in different directions, breaking, then, most likely, the bird is not quite healthy.

Despite the wide variety of necklace parrot species, all have several common symptoms. So, among the advantages of these birds, most hosts call beauty and a remarkable mind. A ringed parrot can be taught not only to speak, but also to carry out various commands, which is why everyone, especially children, is furiously delighted. Some types of necklaces pamper their owners with beautiful singing.

However, if the parrot is not in the best mood, its sharp piercing scream can cause a storm of negativity not only among the households themselves, but also among the neighbors. In addition, the maintenance of this bird is not cheap: the purchase of an aviary, toys, medicines, vaccinations, trips to the veterinarian, as well as special food can cost a round sum. Also, some owners note that birds make a lot of noise and spoil furniture.

See how to feed a parakeet in the next video.