longest lived quaker? Or age ?

[Pixiebeak]

Hello!
Often times quoted age range by species aren't the actual life span we see.

I'm curious to know who has an older quaker? Or the life span your past companion lived to? Or the current age of your quaker?

My Penny if past neglectful owner ( real bad state I found her in cover and matted in poop, bleeding feet, scum on water, cage to small to even stand up straight in , only getting sunflower seeds) told me the truth she was 10 when I got her and would be 15 now..
But often people lie and give a younger age so she may have been even older...

I just wonder how much longer I get to look forward to having my sweet girl around.

My others are 5 and 2

 

[Pixiebeak]

This is a study on actual life span via medical records. Its often much lower than you hear given for species. The exceptions bring the long lived cockatoo, macaw, and African greys. Amazon are given more in the 20's. Its possible lifespans will/are on the increase with better diets and more parrots kept flighted ( increase excersize )

Survival on the ark: life history trends in captive parrots

Members of the order Psittaciformes (parrots and cockatoos) are among the most long-lived and endangered avian species. Comprehensive data on lifespan and breeding are critical to setting conservation priorities, parameterizing population viability models, ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[Pixiebeak]

Any quaker parents feel free to share the current age of your quaker.

Where are the quaker owners?

 

[owlsthetic]

Not a quaker owner but I met a lady with a quaker at the vet's a few weeks back we chatted about our birds and her quaker was 26 years old!

 

[Pixiebeak]

Not a quaker owner but I met a lady with a quaker at the vet's a few weeks back we chatted about our birds and her quaker was 26 years old!

Thanks!

 

[cnyguy]

My QP Ralph is just 12. I think the oldest Quaker Parrot I've heard of was 34. I've heard of several that were/are over 25 years old.

 

[Sparkles99]

The resident quaker at a pet store I frequent is apparently 25, if I recall correctly. He's green & his feathers are in rougher shape than years ago.

 

[Mizzely]

My mother in law has one that is in her 20s. She was 8 when I met her and I met her before my husband and I got married, so my guess is 22-23.

My Quaker that lives with her is 11 currently.

 

[Pixiebeak]

I'm so happy to hear of all that are making it to the mid 20's !!

 

[Pixiebeak]

The resident quaker at a pet store I frequent is apparently 25, if I recall correctly. He's green & his feathers are in rougher shape than years ago.

Awww sorry to hear feathers in rougher shape. But happy he is still around

 

[Kirbbird]

My quaker Kirbie is unknown on exact age but we know she is at least 20 as she was given to my grandma in 2003 and was at least 2 at that time. She then lived with my mom for about 10 years and came to live with us last January after my mom passed. She has an attitude like a teenager but has warmed up to me quite a bit. She is quite the character as they say quakers are

 

[fidsmom]

I had 7 Quakers, , Sadly Jake passed away in May, this year. He was 21 years old. I have my other 6 Quakers left, My oldest is Precious, at 21.5 years old, Bailey is 17 years, Bubba is 14, Daffy is 12, Sweetpea is 8, and Squirt is 6.

 

[ems08]

I've been thinking about this off and on for a few days, since I first saw the post. I think it would be really interesting to see a more recent study.

I don't know specifically about Quaker ages, but when I got my lovebird in 2000, we were told the life expectancy was 10-12 years. Through random chance and little bit of luck, she was weaned onto pellets, albeit Kaytee Rainbow. When she started losing feathers on her head at 15 we started seeing vets regularly and I was told the same number-- before they knew she was 15! We switched vets and then I was told mid to late teens was a typical life expectancy, but rarely do lovebirds make it to 20. Maddie was 19 and a half when she passed, so I still think back to that conversation. I was told the reason for this major change was improvement in bird diets (pellets/ not 100% seed) and better disease treatment options. Also that vets were now starting to see old age related problems (heart attacks, strokes, etc) in birds that they didn't see before, suggesting to that vet at least that life expectancy was starting to reach the max anyone could hope for.
The paper you shared says the median age for lovebirds who live past the age of 4 is roughly 8 years, which seems shockingly low to me. Looking at the monk parakeet line of that table, the sample size is too small for me to draw much of a conclusion and there were a bizarre number of birds dying before age 4! Their total sample size was 455 birds, but only 217 were over the age of 4 at the time of death, which skewed the total median age down to ~3 years. Why? Was there a bad parrot virus going around in the early 2000s? Are quakers prone to losing babies if a breeder doesn't intervene? Only 5 of the birds included in the study were still alive at the time of data collection, but the median age of those 5 was 22 years old. Just from this thread we have more than 5 responses, with an average age of 15 (n=16) and that's including all the young ones.
The other piece they emphasize is breeding age-- well most "pet" owners aren't breeding their birds, which is physiologically taxing and could certainly effect life expectancy. To that point their data doesn't come from pet owners, it comes from zoos and aviaries and other large collections. So overall given the age of the paper as well as some flaws in comparing the data to our real world scenario, I would take their numbers with a grain of salt. A big teaspoon of it in fact . If I had the time and energy it would be cool to collect more data here and informally re-create that table!

 

[Xoetix]

I've been thinking about this off and on for a few days, since I first saw the post. I think it would be really interesting to see a more recent study.

I don't know specifically about Quaker ages, but when I got my lovebird in 2000, we were told the life expectancy was 10-12 years. Through random chance and little bit of luck, she was weaned onto pellets, albeit Kaytee Rainbow. When she started losing feathers on her head at 15 we started seeing vets regularly and I was told the same number-- before they knew she was 15! We switched vets and then I was told mid to late teens was a typical life expectancy, but rarely do lovebirds make it to 20. Maddie was 19 and a half when she passed, so I still think back to that conversation. I was told the reason for this major change was improvement in bird diets (pellets/ not 100% seed) and better disease treatment options. Also that vets were now starting to see old age related problems (heart attacks, strokes, etc) in birds that they didn't see before, suggesting to that vet at least that life expectancy was starting to reach the max anyone could hope for.
The paper you shared says the median age for lovebirds who live past the age of 4 is roughly 8 years, which seems shockingly low to me. Looking at the monk parakeet line of that table, the sample size is too small for me to draw much of a conclusion and there were a bizarre number of birds dying before age 4! Their total sample size was 455 birds, but only 217 were over the age of 4 at the time of death, which skewed the total median age down to ~3 years. Why? Was there a bad parrot virus going around in the early 2000s? Are quakers prone to losing babies if a breeder doesn't intervene? Only 5 of the birds included in the study were still alive at the time of data collection, but the median age of those 5 was 22 years old. Just from this thread we have more than 5 responses, with an average age of 15 (n=16) and that's including all the young ones.
The other piece they emphasize is breeding age-- well most "pet" owners aren't breeding their birds, which is physiologically taxing and could certainly effect life expectancy. To that point their data doesn't come from pet owners, it comes from zoos and aviaries and other large collections. So overall given the age of the paper as well as some flaws in comparing the data to our real world scenario, I would take their numbers with a grain of salt. A big teaspoon of it in fact . If I had the time and energy it would be cool to collect more data here and informally re-create that table!

If I have to take another statistics course, I’m getting in touch with you…

 

[Pixiebeak]

I had 7 Quakers, , Sadly Jake passed away in May, this year. He was 21 years old. I have my other 6 Quakers left, My oldest is Precious, at 21.5 years old, Bailey is 17 years, Bubba is 14, Daffy is 12, Sweetpea is 8, and Squirt is 6.

Pictures? Cuz quakers! Are yours liking to be vocal?

 

[Pixiebeak]

My vet got to check Penny out as she has lost a little weight despite my best efforts during her molt.
She feels she was older than the 10 years I was told by very shady previous owner. So instead if 14 would guess her to be 20 a hard life 20, or older ..
Nothing wrong with her just starting to look like a really old bird. My heart......im just feeling im just have a year or so left with her.

 

[Pixiebeak]

I've been thinking about this off and on for a few days, since I first saw the post. I think it would be really interesting to see a more recent study.

I don't know specifically about Quaker ages, but when I got my lovebird in 2000, we were told the life expectancy was 10-12 years. Through random chance and little bit of luck, she was weaned onto pellets, albeit Kaytee Rainbow. When she started losing feathers on her head at 15 we started seeing vets regularly and I was told the same number-- before they knew she was 15! We switched vets and then I was told mid to late teens was a typical life expectancy, but rarely do lovebirds make it to 20. Maddie was 19 and a half when she passed, so I still think back to that conversation. I was told the reason for this major change was improvement in bird diets (pellets/ not 100% seed) and better disease treatment options. Also that vets were now starting to see old age related problems (heart attacks, strokes, etc) in birds that they didn't see before, suggesting to that vet at least that life expectancy was starting to reach the max anyone could hope for.
The paper you shared says the median age for lovebirds who live past the age of 4 is roughly 8 years, which seems shockingly low to me. Looking at the monk parakeet line of that table, the sample size is too small for me to draw much of a conclusion and there were a bizarre number of birds dying before age 4! Their total sample size was 455 birds, but only 217 were over the age of 4 at the time of death, which skewed the total median age down to ~3 years. Why? Was there a bad parrot virus going around in the early 2000s? Are quakers prone to losing babies if a breeder doesn't intervene? Only 5 of the birds included in the study were still alive at the time of data collection, but the median age of those 5 was 22 years old. Just from this thread we have more than 5 responses, with an average age of 15 (n=16) and that's including all the young ones.
The other piece they emphasize is breeding age-- well most "pet" owners aren't breeding their birds, which is physiologically taxing and could certainly effect life expectancy. To that point their data doesn't come from pet owners, it comes from zoos and aviaries and other large collections. So overall given the age of the paper as well as some flaws in comparing the data to our real world scenario, I would take their numbers with a grain of salt. A big teaspoon of it in fact . If I had the time and energy it would be cool to collect more data here and informally re-create that table!

It was the only scientific life span study I could find. Would love an updated study. Would love if our care abd quality of life for our parrots has abd continues to improve with longer life spans

 

[ems08]

If I have to take another statistics course, I’m getting in touch with you…

Haha, I'm a scientist by training and even though my statistics class was basically a "how to use graphpad" course, I do have to use a lot of basic statistics regularly in my research.

My vet got to check Penny out as she has lost a little weight despite my best efforts during her molt.
She feels she was older than the 10 years I was told by very shady previous owner. So instead if 14 would guess her to be 20 a hard life 20, or older ..
Nothing wrong with her just starting to look like a really old bird. My heart......im just feeling im just have a year or so left with her.

I'm really sorry Pixie I hope you get more time than that. Did the vet recommend anything for older-bird support? Has Penny tried the senior bird nutriberries? They have a bunch of supplements in them specifically for supporting older bird health and they were a hit with my lovie.

 

[Pixiebeak]

Haha, I'm a scientist by training and even though my statistics class was basically a "how to use graphpad" course, I do have to use a lot of basic statistics regularly in my research.

I'm really sorry Pixie I hope you get more time than that. Did the vet recommend anything for older-bird support? Has Penny tried the senior bird nutriberries? They have a bunch of supplements in them specifically for supporting older bird health and they were a hit with my lovie.

Thank you
Yes , she wants me to supplement with baby burd formula once a day. Which she takes great and gained bsck some weight. And to give vitamins once a month.
Suspects some minor age related organ issues, arthritis. And said she has seen a surprising amount of cancer in older bird necropsies...that she wouldn't be surprised if Penny has , but not worth risk of x rays and not much she could do if she had..

And molts are just hard on older birds. Really expects weight loss is from her molting. She is just 5 grams under her normal. But in her prime she would have bern st least 10 grams higher. So she is thin sude of normal

 

[Kirbbird]

Could you post a picture of miss Penny? I am curious of her coloring, Kirbie, my old gal has seemed to be darker on her back than most quakers I see pictures of on here. Now with a thread of Quakers and their ages I would be interested to see how they all look in the different stages. This picture is from a couple months ago when we were still getting acquainted but discovered she REALLY loves head scritches