White around the eyes?

[penny'smom]

It seems like all the caique photos I see show white around their eyes. Penelope has white and black. I thought for the longest time that perhaps she kept bruising herself by playing too hard, but (after double-checking baby pictures) the spots are in the same place. First photo is the day she came home (3-4 months old), the second is within the first year, the third is recent (almost 3). She also has a single black head feather that comes in now and again, which her daddy bird also has.

 

[prettyinpink]

Do you put her outside? Usually I notice Caiques getting darker around the eyes if they go outside.

 

[penny'smom]

she is by 2 windows, but doesn't go outside very often

 

[Ming-Ming]

They tend to get darker as they get older, and it gets even blacker if they are exposed to sunlight. Kind of like why some athletes keep black around their eyes.

It's nothing to worry about

 

[Ming-Ming]

Here is Douglas at 8 months...

And here is a more recent photo...

 

[crystaljam]

Someone recenty did a comparison of their caique's eyes from summer vs winter, and the skin around the eyes was definitely darker during the summer, and then lightened up during the shorter sunny hours of winter

It was really neat to see the comparison!

 

[penny'smom]

Okay, the summer/winter difference explains why the spots seemed to change (why I thought she has bruised herself). It makes sense that the Black Headeds get all black around the eyes (cute little bandits...) So adult white bellieds don't keep the white ring, unless they don't get sun? I just can't recall seeing a WBC without that pure white eye ring...

 

[Mitzi]

My black headed who will be 4 next month still has the light color eye ring. I guess not all black headed get the black ring.
Mitzi

 

[Deej]

Well here's a picture of my two WBC brother's. They will be 8 years old in Jan. and they are only 5 days apart in age. Jazz who's on the left has all white eye rings and Tazz on the right has black in his along with some black feathers on the top of his head that Jazz doesn't have. I think it may be genetics that plays the biggest part because they get the same amount of sun light.

 

[penny'smom]

Thanks for those examples and pics! I've wondered for a while...

 

[zoo mom]

All I know about cakes are they are cute,funny and very energetic.

 

[linus69]

All I know about cakes are they are cute,funny and very energetic.

You left out affectionate and too clever for their own good, mine started opening her cage in the bedroom by herself last night.

 

[jmfleish]

Well here's a picture of my two WBC brother's. They will be 8 years old in Jan. and they are only 5 days apart in age. Jazz who's on the left has all white eye rings and Tazz on the right has black in his along with some black feathers on the top of his head that Jazz doesn't have. I think it may be genetics that plays the biggest part because they get the same amount of sun light.

Look at those little Cake monsters! They're just too cute for words! I bet they'd have a lot of fun playing with Merlie's pair...you should call her up and set up a play date!

 

[rockybird]

I have noticed this too. Could it be hormonal or genetic? Zeek, my 9 yr. old male, has all white around the eyes. He gets lots of sun exposure and is still white. His cage has always been next to a floor to ceiling window and he gets walks frequently in the sun (in Arizona), yet he still has white eye rings. The other thing I have noticed is that head shape seems to vary among caiques. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

[penny'smom]

I haven't noticed head shape. I only noticed the eye rings because of Penny's.

 

[rockybird]

I found a link asking about eye ring color. It looks like it was answered by a vet. He says that light can affect the color. It makes sense.

Caique - Black Rings around eyes

 

[TSwift]

Wow this was very informative. I previously believed that the rings around the eyes only changed for BHC, but I guess they change for WBC's too! My two WBC are 1 year old and I have taken them outside every day for a week straight, but no change in their eye rings yet. Maybe they will change once they are a little older.