Not a social butterfly...

[Zeb]

My black headed caique is NOT what you would call a social butterfly, I have found out this week!

I don't blame him completely....he's only 3 or 4 years old, and was cage bound nearly his entire life until I adopted him. He was instantly tame for me, although he plays a bit rough and gets beaky.

I also adopted a white belly caique...and when I introduced them in a nuetral territory, I thought they might be ok. The white belly is about 9, and his previous owner said he likes other birds. Anyhow, the black headed caique ( Rambo ) made the first move....and they quarreled a bit.

So they now play on the same stand, but stay away from each other. They are fine being on me at the same time, as long as they don't get too close. I couldn't cage them together safely, at least not at this point.

Anyhow...here is the amazing part....

Rambo is on a full size manzanita tree. My mini macaw, Rowdy, is on another.

Rambo flies over to Rowdy, who is a bit bigger, and lands on his back!!!!

He tried it on my male eclectus too, who was even farther away!

At least I picked a good name.

 

[CosmoKramer]

They are deffinatly little terrorists towards other species sometimes! Hope this doesnt continue and cause you too much trouble.

 

[Laurul Feather Cat]

My Meyers, Hobbs, was a specist terrorist as well. He did not care about the lovebirds or the keets or the cockatiels, but that CAG and the Zons were fair game. He could not be out when they were out. Then one day, one of the zons bit me and Hobbs gave out a war cry and attacked with a vengence. I had a heck of a time getting them separated. He hated that bird to the day he died and attacked Precie at every chance he got. Whew!

I can just see a black helmeted cake crawling around on the back of a macaw, going 'take that, and that....'. Poor macaw.

 

[crystaljam]

What a fearless Rambo!

Rosco has playtime alone - there are two playstands beside Merlin's cage (which has a playtop on the side), so Rosco bounces from one playstand to the other, to the top of Merlin's cage to drop all the toys off of it. He can sit beside Merlin, but they sit apart, and I don't totally trust Rosco.

Rosco isn't allowed near Stryder, as he stalks him from outside the cage.

Silly fids and their Napoleon complex!

 

[Merlie]

I have two BHC's, siblings who have been raised together, and they are okay <for now> together, although given the Cake reputation, I keep a VERY close eye on their behaviors.

However, they will, without a doubt, try to kill any of my other birds, esp. ones their size or smaller .. no joke, no exaggeration .. they HATE other birds. The only bird they seem to know better about bothering is my RF Mac, they tried once, and luckily .. he's a mellow sort and kinda golf balled them across the room .. lol .. when he really could have just taken their heads off.

Be very, very careful .. Caiques are fearless with a hint of vicious .. and will go after even birds 10x their size. They have a reputation for not appreciating other birds around, and have been known to kill/injure their own species, even when raised together. I am constantly vigilant with mine, more so than all of my other birds combined.

 

[Zeb]

Interesting. So it's not just me.

I was amazed at Rambo's bravery!

I've had the white belly out, and he doesn't bother anyone....so it's interesting how one can be fine around other birds, and the other isn't. ( The white belly was supposedly sharing a playstand with a green cheek and a lovebird at his former home. )

I won't trust them anymore, and it's not a huge problem, but still....wow.

 

[Doodle Bird]

These stories make me giggle...soooooo familiar. On a positive note, Nani and Piper get along now. I can leave them in the same cage (the play cage) and they are fine. They both have separate "home" cages as well and Nani lets Piper in her half of the condo to share food etc. They have just barely started to preen eachother although that usually ends up in a squabble.

When I had the BW Pi Nani was relentless...HATED him! Poor bird.