Can you tell me what the difference is...

[Tinytoez]

Between a Celestial and a Spectacled Parrotlet please?I've been researching and Googling and can't seem to find a difinative answer except temperament and place of origin. The reason I ask is because the Breeder I got Evie from has some baby Spectacleds ready in october, and he charges more for them and the Lutinos than the Celestials, and I wondered what the reason might be, other than they could be harder to breed. I think I can feel a touch of MBMBS (Mini Bird Multi Bird Syndrome) creeping in, I need some medication quick.

 

[love4birds]

Celestial or Pacific parrotlets are more common than Spectacled parrotlets, which is probably the reason for the price difference

 

[rikkitikki]

This says the spectacled are also smaller: Introduction to Parrotlets

 

[Tinytoez]

Smaller!! Oh noooo Evie is small enough, she dive bombed behind the radiator last night. Thanks Erika, will have a read now.

 

[Milo]

If you think a pacific is small... try a green rump!

Spectacleds are much harder to find in the pet trade, so that's going to be a factor in the price.

 

[MessyBeaks]

I have both. They are different species - think Blue & Gold Macaw vs. Scarlet Macaw. Lutino is a colour mutation of a Celestial parrotlet; Spectacleds are a different bird entirely. Visually Celestials (here they are called Pacifics) are pretty similar to Spectacleds, especially the nominate since they are both green and males have blue eye streaks - Specs are only about 3-5g smaller, so it's really not noticeable unless you have them side by side. Male Pacifics have a blue eye streak where as male Specs have a blue eye ring with a line that curves back around the side of the face, like the arm on a pair of glasses (that's why they're called Spectacled). Females look pretty much the same between species and it takes a very trained eye to tell them apart. Temperament-wise, Specs tend not to be quite as dominating or aggressive in personality as Pacifics, otherwise they are pretty much the same for pet quality, trainability and talking ability.

Hope this helps!

 

[Tinytoez]

Thanks Leigh, that helped a lot. Hmm doesn't help me decide not to get one though lol

 

[LittleGems]

I have both Spectacled and Pacifics. Spectacled are definitely much more rare and much harder to breed (I have not succeeded yet in getting my Spectacled pair to lay, although I do have them finally playing around with the idea of nesting LOL). My Specs are definitely visually smaller than my Pacifics, and my pair is very quiet (I am honestly not sure I have ever heard them make a sound - but my pair are very shy parent-raised birds)

 

[MessyBeaks]

Good point LittleGems, I forgot to add that mine are also virtually silent.

 

[BusterBlu]

celestial is way more common then green rumps or spectacled parrotlets so the prices are higher