Abstract
Back some years ago, Fred and I came across some brown-headed parrots (Poicepbalus cryptoxanthus) at a retail bird farm. There were two of these birds in a cage which was set off to one side of the shop. We spoke to the owner and he told us that those particular species of birds were not for sale. He told us that the two brown-headed parrots had been surgically sexed and were both males.
Fred and I are intrigued with the African parrots, as we have been breeding many African species for sometime now such as the Congo and Timneh greys, Senegals, Meyers, Jardine's and even our new pair of Cape parrots had just laid. I was now determined to own the brown-headed parrot species. I begged and pleaded with the shop owner (one of my more persistent traits when I really want something) as I explained to him that two males did him no good just sitting in the cage. We asked him to name his price and he did and out came our money.
We were given our choice as to which bird we wanted. I carefully examined the two birds and selected the one which I felt was a hen, not a male ( even knowing they were both surgically sexed as males). I have picked out all of our Senegal and Meyer's hens by sight and after successfully breeding these birds for many years I truly felt I knew these birds well. The reason I try to pick out hens is that generally in the Poicepbalus family these birds usually run quite heavy in males, so why not start off with a hen whenever it's possible. Home we went happily with our first brown-headed parrot, now our search would start for more. We made many local and long distance phone calls, all leading nowhere.
Not long after we purchased the new brown-headed parrot, a friend from Texas phoned us to talk about birds. While we exchanged bird news of things going on, the unbelievable happened. He informed us that he saw a brown-headed parrot at a pet shop in a cage with a Meyer's parrot. I called. Sure enough, they said that they had one brownheaded parrot, the sex of the bird was unknown. I told the shop salesman that I'd take the bird regardless of its sex and asked him to ship the bird to us, which he cheerfully did.
Soon we introduced the new bird to the first brown-headed parrot we purchased. Of course this was done under our very close supervision in case the two birds would not get along. The two seemed to hit it off right from the start, as if they were meant to be together. I felt strongly that they were a pair; that is, the sexed male was probably a hen and the bird from Texas appeared to be a male. The two birds looked identical in coloration and size except that the first bird had more of a petite face and head features. We set up an appointment with our veterinarian to have both brownheaded parrots surgically sexed in a week.
That following week we took the birds to the veterinarian to be surgically sexed. The brown-headed parrot from Texas was sexed out as a mature male; and not to my surprise the first one we purchased was surgically sexed (this time by our vet) as a hen. I felt quite strongly that she was indeed a hen. Now we were on our way, for we had a true pair of brown-headed parrots that appeared to be in good health.