Caique coloration/body differences..spotted feet, etc.

[rockybird]

My 9 yr. old wb caique has spotted feet. He has light eye rings (see earlier post on eye ring color differences) and kind of a flat head. It seems most of the caiques I've seen pics of have rounded heads (or am I imagining this?), variable eye ring colors, and dark feet. I'm just curious what other differences people have noticed within the species?

 

[Greycloud]

I have seen many caiques with darker eye rings if they spend more time out in the sun. I have never seen that skin color on their feet though.

 

[rockybird]

Thanks Greycloud. Zeek spends a lot of time in the sun (I live in AZ) but he didnt get the dark eye rings. I think the spotted feet must be a mutation.

 

[prettyinpink]

Hmm... I'm going to bump this for you.

Has he always had feet like that? Could be busing if his feet are normally pink. There are some caiques with black feet, others with pink. Maybe he just got a mix of the two.

 

[penny'smom]

Wow - never seen spotted feet! My WBC has dark grey feet. I think caiques sort of have flat heads... I think Penny does.

 

[rockybird]

His feet have been like that since I got him as a baby. I have met one or two other people with caiques that have spotted feet.

Here is a post about the light and dark eye rings. Maybe Zeek is not getting enough intense light to darken the eye rings?
Caique - Black Rings around eyes

I dont know if I am imagining it but it seems like some caiques have a different head shape. When I see them, I am always amazed at how different the look from him. Maybe it is not head shape, but a more full head of feathers?

 

[Monica]

The nominate species of White Bellied Caiques (yellow thighed caiques, which is what you have, are the most common within captivity, with Green Thighed Caiques being the nominate sub-species) have pink feet. Don't know if that may mean anything or not. I'm thinking it just might be a possible sign of being pied, or just abnormal markings.

Lexicon of Parrots
Caique - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[FLmom]

My WBC has spotted feet and light eyes also. Is that not normal?

 

[Ming-Ming]

Nah It's normal!
Some birds have darker eyes than others!

Also, this is sometimes a generalization, but usually males have flatter heads and females have more round heads. But this isn't always true

 

[TSwift]

Totally normal! No worries.

I have two White Bellied Caiques. One has spotted feet similar to your caique's (they are more speckled and less defined, but still spotted), and Ava's (Sheik's sister) has plain dark greyfeet. Also, they have different head shapes. A lot of people ask me how I can tell them apart, but for my boyfriend and I, it is really easy. I definitely would not call their feet pink by any means and mine are yellow-thighed.

I have also heard that Black-Headed caiques have black eye rings if they are exposed to the sun for long amounts of time. I have never heard this happening with a White-Bellied Caique,though. What also strange is WBC's have no green around their eyes, but BHC's do. My two WBC's have white eye rings, even when we have taken them outside every day for a week straight.