Abstract
The little cobalt-winged parakeet (Brotogeris cyanoptera cyanoptera) being native to South America is readily abundant and commonly seen in large flocks in parts of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. In the past this bird had not been commonly found in private avian collections in the United States until just a few years ago when some were imported. In September of 1981, we were told of a newly released quarantine shipment of imported orange-chinned parakeets which differed in coloring and shape from those normally brought in under this name. A few bird dealers had noticed that these charming lircle birds resembled the common orangechinned parakeets, but were in fact not the same species. Their coloring was different, having a yellow forehead and bright cobalt blue wings, which were just two of many differences.
At that time these extraordinary birds were being sold quite inexpensively straight from the quarantine station as orange-chinned parakeets to bird jobbers and pet stores. We were told that a local pet shop had some of these newly released odd parakeets. We immediate! y "flew" down to the shop to see these birds. As Fred and I gazed upon these feathered creatures we knew that these birds were not orange-chinned parakeets that many people mistook them for, but were in fact cobaltwinged parakeets. There were about twenty of them in a cage of which we bought four.
Fred very carefully went through all these birds in the cage, checking them by the pelvic bone sexing technique, till he picked out four healthy birds which he felt would be two actual pairs. Two birds were just slightly larger in the head and beak, and the other two had slightly more delicate faces.
These birds are somewhat similar to the orange-chinned parakeet (Brotogeris juguiaris), after all they are
both Brotogeris. When comparing the cobalt-winged parakeet to the orangechinned parakeet, one finds many different characteristics. The cobaltwinged parakeets appear to be slightly larger, while also having their protruding notched beak a little longer in appearance. These birds are not quite that bright apple-green color like the orange-chinned parakeet. Other color differences are a dull yellow coloring on the forehead just above the cere going between the eyes, and bright cobalt blue on the flight feathers (which gives them their common name). The orangec hi nned parakeets have a distinct bronze colored shoulder patch on each wing, where the cobalt-winged parakeets do not.
The day after we purchased the four birds I took them to our veterinarian, Dr. Max E. Weiss, so he could surgically sex them for us. This way not only do we find out the sex but their physical status, also. The four birds were, indeed, two healthy pairs, with the slightly larger ones being the males. The birds were tatooed on the underside of the wing and marked in black ink on their feet, males right wing and foot, hens left wing and foot, for easy identification of sexes. I was so excited with our new birds that I went right home and set up each pair in their own breeding cage.
Fred went outside to check up on our new birds. He quickly came back inside the house to find out what new breeding technique I was trying. He said the birds had been set up in nice breeding cages but we may have much better luck in producing chicks if I were to pair up a male to a female instead of two males in one cage and two hens in the other. I immediately swapped the birds around in hopes ofbetter breeding results.
The pairs were set up in these cages for well over a year with no sign of any attempts to breed. They had been on what we believe to be an excellent diet,
as all our birds receive this diet and are in good feather as well as excellent health, with most producing chicks. The dry seed they were furnished with was sunflower seed, safflower seed and a high grade parakeet mix. Along with this seed diet they are provided with an assortment of fresh and well washed fruits and vegetables daily; apple, oranges, peas, corn, beets, carrots, spinach and various others which are in season at the time. We have found that the Brotogeris are large fruit and vegetable eaters. They also get a large assortment of fresh sprouted seeds daily which they seem to relish.
The pairs had been set up in a split cage (a long cage being divided in half by mesh wire). I noticed that during the day the four birds would hang on the middle dividing wire trying to preen each others mate right through this wire. As evening would come the pairs would retreat to their nest box for the night. We decided to try to house the two pairs together in a larger cage. Two parakeet nest boxes (being eight inches deep, six inches wide, and eight inches long), were hung on the outside of the large cage, one box per pair.
I had read and talked to many people about these birds, and found that most nested in their native habitat in termite mounds. We decided to try something different with their nest boxes, so I lined the entire inside of the box with dark colored wall paneling cork, using a non-toxic white glue to adhere it to the inside walls. A small amount of pine shavings was added to the bottom inside box. As soon as the two pairs were placed together in the same cage they instantly swapped mates. It was now evident that they had not been happy in the way we had previously paired them. Both pairs investigated the two nest boxes, but decided to set up housekeeping in the same nest box. Every evening, all four birds would climb together into the nest box. I peeked in there one day just as it was getting dark to see how they all did it. It was crowded, but they all seemed happy and content.
Within two weeks from the time we put all four birds together in the same cage, I noticed one of the hens starting to swell in the vent area. Soon the first egg was laid, with this being in the early spring season. Most of the cork had been left intact in the nest box; just a little had been chewed off and mixed in with the pine shavings. The hen had made a concave in one corner of the nest box in the shavings for the egg she had laid.