That band was awful. It is one of those adjustable bands and looks like it was put on and tightened as a baby. Poor little Juni!Ya, I'm not sure why someone put one on Juni.It seemed about canary sized too so it obviously shouldn't have been used for a parrot. I hope the breeders don't do this to all their birdies.
I shiver at the thought of it. I'm glad you were able to take it off.
They said that they weren't allowed to release the breeders name, but they said it was someone local. I'd be surprised if Juni was a stolen bird. I got a certificate, but it was from the pet store...no breeder information at all. Hybrid mitred/cherry heads are common because the two get mixed up so much.I have NEVER heard of not divulging the breeder's name by a pet store, unless of course they are stolen. When I bought my sun conure Nicky, I received a certificate from the breeder (in FL) giving their name, his hatchday, & what vaccinations Nick had received. Perhaps the sales person didn't know, so made up an excuse so as not to loose the sale.
I think it's just me, but I couldn't/wouldn't leave this alone. Was there anything on the band? Letters/numbers? If not, then why put on a band at all, unless to encourage the belief the bird is captive raised. Professional breeders DON'T breed hybrids, except for macaws, where their's lots of $$$ at stake!
If you're curious about this & decide to pursue it, I'd love to know the outcome! There have been thefts of these birds from San Francisco (Parrots of Telegraph Hill)
I did some research and I know he's a hybrid because of his appearance. He has red wing bends, which is absent in mitreds, but they way his coloring has developed (the pattern) is like a mitreds. He's much too large, length wise, to be a cherry head, but he doesn't seem to weigh enough to be a mitred. He does seem to have a lighter, cherry head, shade of green. But he has the dark red patch above his cere. Everything points to a hybrid so far. Plus, it is VERY common for people to accidentally cross breed mitreds and cherry heads because they get mixed up so much. But I'll be interested to see how his color keeps changing over the years. He's almost 3, so he might still have some more color coming in.
