Perhaps the most notable personality trait found in a caique (pronounced: ki-eek) is their playfulness. This is a parrot that doesn’t think twice about rolling onto its back to wrestle with a foot toy, or swing wildly back and forth from the roof of its cage dangling by a single toe. Their colorful plumage is reminiscent of a circus clown – where there is a caique, there will always be laughter.
The caique is an active bird which is constantly in motion. That may be something of an understatement. In fact, they can be nippy when they aren’t given the opportunity to expend their boundless energy, and their headstrong nature is sure to test boundaries and push limits. Still, they are just plain fun to have around!
Creating The Perfect Play Area For a Caique
To create an environment for a caique that is sure to satisfy its endless need to play while keeping it safe from potential dangers around the house, the wise owner will spend a lot of time bird-proofing before bringing their bird home.
It is always important to safety check your home when you have a bird, removing electrical cords, keeping chemicals out of reach and avoiding the use of aerosol sprays, nonstick coated cookware and room deodorizers, all of which have been responsible for many parrot deaths over the years. But with a caique you may want to spend some extra time tending to the small details.
Your talented caique will find its way into anything, anywhere, if it looks like it might provide the opportunity for fun or exploration. This trait makes it especially important for owners to be aware of what they leave lying around the house.
The caique has a special knack for finding “lost” items – like your missing earring or mailbox key. But don’t expect a caique to simply hand it over to you once they’ve found it- they believe in the #1 rule of acquisition: “finders, keepers”. Everything is a toy to them – THEIR toy!
The perfect, and safest, environment for a caique is one that limits play to a single area of the house which is filled with fun and interesting things to do. Foot toys are a must with this species – which is any toy that is small enough to be manipulated by the feet but large enough not to be a choking hazard.
Swings and boings will be hot spots of activity for your high energy caique. They love motion and can often be found swinging from a toy suspended from a chain in their cage. A play gym that is suspended from the ceiling might be a good investment; interestingly, caiques seem to prefer walking to flying and this may be one way to keep your busy bird stationary for a while.
An Energetic Bird Needs a Great Diet
An energetic bird needs to start every day with a diet that can sustain a high level of activity. That means that daily servings of fresh vegetables and fruit, cooked or sprouted legumes, grains and a high quality pellet are a must.
Aside from providing energy, proper nutrients keep a bird’s body operating at peak efficiency with a strong immune system that wards off bacteria and disease in the environment.
Most avian diseases and conditions can be traced back to poor diet. In order to keep your birds from suffering from illness or losing years off its lifespan due to malnutrition (and to avoid the hundreds, even thousands, of dollars these illnesses can cost you in vet bills) it is wise to learn about appropriate nutrition for parrots.
Too many times new owners are sent home from the pet store or breeders with information on feeding that is not only inappropriate, but downright dangerous for their birds.
17 comments
Hello I am absolutely in love with caiques and would like to get a pair but I am having trouble finding a place to get them. I live in Indiana. I found a breeder in Florida called Shady Pines Aviary but that’s all I’ve found. Any suggestions?
Hello Sir, I have a 2-year-old male Caique parrot who lives at home with my mother and me in a big room, he plays with me, but he’s sitting on my mother’s shoulder, he’s been carrying out terrible attacks on my mother for the last two months, his attacks have been a lot this March, he only attacks my feet if I don’t have socks, mine doesn’t matter, but my mother is 85 years old and he fell to the ground and was injured when he attacked, why did this happen, what should I do, we love our parrot very much Turkey-with love and respect from ISTANBUL.
Can you please tell me why my bird is pulling her Feathers Out❓
I have a 2 year old caique and he is so precious he does face hormones, but I love him to death!
Hi I recently just purchased peaches a white bellied caique off of Craigslist for 500 with a sun conure do u have any tips I have birds and all just want him to be happy and healthy
Good morning lovely bird couple! We are formerly from California. I am considering getting back into the bird world. I am reading and watching everything available on your Tubes. Husband and I have moved to Phoenix AZ. We have ceiling fans in every room of the house! Will this be " Don’t get a bird " situation. I’m looking at Cockatiels which I’m familiar and White Bellied Caique Kai Eke not Cake! Fans are necessary in the summer. I await your answer even if It makes me cry. Thank you Christi
Hi! I don’t really know where to begin, but I’ll keep it short. I am a mother in a blended family. I have a daughter, my husband has a son, and we share a son together. Our 2 older kids spend week on/week off with us. I recently decided I will be getting a caique soon, so my question is- is it better to bring the caique home on a week the older kids are with us so it can acclimate to the noisy house we have when they’re here? Or is it better to bring it home when they’re not here so he can settle in and make himself at home?
I love all the info I got from reading this and watching the videos and now i have such a better bond with my parrot . thanks so much for helping us bird owners
Well, since my first email yesterday, my caique attacked me again this morning. My husband brought him to where I was in the kitchen. He went directly to the corner of the island closest to me. I was making food. He was vocal and eyes were pinned. I gave him a small piece of Amish bread which he destroyed. After our food was done, I went and sat down to eat. He went to his stand next to me and ate. I wasn’t even looking at him when he came down and ran at me with eyes blazing. He was on me in seconds. My husband grabbed him and put him in his cage. He was bitten. I’m at my wits end. Attacks are not provoked. I am his feeder, cage cleaner, etc. we’ve had him 3 months. This started 3-4 weeks ago. He was a little nippy at first but liked coming to me and playing on my shoulder and chest. I don’t know what to do. I’ve had caiques before and never had this problem. He is 7. I say he because he is large for a caique. We don’t know the sex. The breeder I got him from said he was not being handled or not correctly and his diet was just seeds. His feathers were not in good shape. They look great now. I need help!
My adopted 7 year old caique is attacking me!! I have had two caiques before and never had this problem! He was a little nippy at first but loved to snuggle with me and stepped up. Suddenly, I am being attacked out of the blue even if I’m not even engaging with him/her.
My Caique has gotten so territorial and refuses to step up and come out of her cage. She will only come out if we leave the door open. Training videos that might help?
Hope all is well, I am on my second caique and my 2 second one is treated differently from the first. I lost my first Caique Bam Bam on I 5 south at the lake Castaic viewing center. off ramp. we had our granddaughter in the car and see needed changing. It was coming down like cats and dogs. and the wife who was driving was worthless at the stop. she was mad we did not drive all night to her parents house. Anyway Bam Bam must have jumped out or off my shoulder. I could not hear a thing. because of the downpour. It was Thanksgiving Week in 2011. Anyway when we found out she was gone, we were just ready to get on the Freeway. I hollered at the wife to back up on the shoulder, there was no one coming. she refused to do so. and said she would make a return on the next exit. I wanted her to use the chp turnaround on the freeway. I had a 4 wheel drive and it would have been no problem. Well the next exit was like 8 miles down the road. and when we went to come back the Highway was shut down. A big rig had spun out and just jammed it up to a crawl. for 8 miles. it took us 2 hrs to get back. I looked in all the bushes were we had parked. I was frantic. There we no feathers on the ground and no remains on the driveway or on the parking lot. We had parked on the farthest area from the lookout and there was only one pickup truck in front of us at the parking lot. bam bam was the friendliest bird I had ever knowm. Anyway I am sure he saw what happened and went a head and grabbed him. I was devastated. Bam Bam and I went everywhere together. Anyway I looked until the lights came on in the lot. Anyway we drove to her parents house about 2.5 hrs away in orange co. Cal. I could not sleep that night. The next morning I drove out there and searched high and low for her. It was the worst thanksgiving of my life. I did not blow up at the wife because it would have done no good. She knew she messed up and that was that. On the way back thru we stopped again and put up flyers and checked in the observation building to see if anyone had mentioned a lost bird. I am 99% percent sure it was that guy in the truck. I logged a missing bird report with the Lost Bird Society and kept checking it for any response. I did go and buy a baby male the night we got back home from Feathered Follies up in Northern Cal. Laura was a jewel letting me cry on her shoulder. Now my question after all the complaining about my situation. Do you think I could get a hold of all the bird vets on the west coast and see if she turned up. Using the band on her foot. and if so is there a list of bird doctors on the west coast. I am sure she has been to a vet in the last 9 yrs. And Bird Vets are far and few in between . I am happy with with Elliot my current caique, I love both of them but as you know there is a big difference between Male and Females. I would give my right arm to get her. back. I did put up a 2 or 3 thousand dollar reward out there. But no takers . Thanks so much for the platform. Will start using this site more and more, if that is ok with you. Thanks so much again. Kelly and Elliott
Hello! I like to watch your videos, I learn so much from them, I also try to teach the information I learn to my dad. My dad doesn´t understand English, so he can´t understand the video but he still likes to watch a couple of them. We own a Yellow Crowned Amazon, a 1 year old male named Kiko. The parrot is really my dads as he likes to spend the most time with, my dad loves to lay on the sofa and he will happily chill on the side or on his chest. I´d love to adopt a parrot thats “mine”. Its most likely Kiko is staying with my parents if I graduate to collage, but I´d love to have a parrot to keep me company. Our house isn´t fit for a Macaw (also maybe too big of a bird for me), we might get another amazon but I´d really like to have a smaller bird, a caique or green cheeked conure, I´m having trouble decide as both have pros and cons but are wonderful. I would like some advice to help me choose to adopt a new parrot. Thank you!
I got a Caique from the bird sanctuary where I was volunteering. His previous owners taught him so many cool tricks and I haven’t been able to get him to work on anything!!! I realize that it’s the diet – they were giving him pellets and I’ve been giving him seeds like the sanctuary did so – free treats all the time I’m learning from you guys . I need to make the transformation right away so I can clean up his diet Yo give the tricks value right! Be able to bond more, practice , improved and maybe add new tricks. I totally plan to come out to free fly him too his wings are growing out (vet said he’s almost ready). Now I know you don’t send to Canada but I do have a box over the boarder that I can have things mailed to. So your food will need to wait till I can go over the boarder – but for now can I get recipes and info on how to transfer him over – I’m sure he’ll be mad but…..do I do this gradually then? Also should I do this for my GCC as well? Thanks so much. I really love your videos and can’t wait to meet you and let this bird fly – he sure loves to be outside!!! I’m sure it will be the best day of his life.
Hi, I was doing a lot of research on this bird but still am not sure where, if I was to get one, where to get it from. Have you got a suggestions bearing in mind I like in the UK.
Hi, I like to watch your video’s as well! OMG! I absolutely love the ones with you guys flying the birds with the beautiful background scenery!!! I lived in Colorado at one time near the boarder of Utah, in Grand Junction. Loved it! Your daughter is adorable with those little sun conures! I have a Caique! He’s a busy boy, but I love him. I’m trying to think of what I can use in his bedroom (yes he has his own room) my son’s old room. lol! He likes to climb around and I was trying to find something to use to connect from one side of his room to the other. Like maybe fat rope? Maybe you can give me an idea or suggestion? I would love that. Can I send you a video? T.Y.
First of all I love your vids. This article, because I am about to adopt a caique, and your videos are very helpful. Thank you
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