Abstract
B reeding the Plain Parakeet Brotogeris tirica was a combination of luck and patience.
After trying for many years to find some pairs of its well known cousin, the Grey-cheeked Parakeet, I finally settled on the Plains as there were a few pairs being imported and offered to me.
Measuring about eight inches long, they are the largest of the Brotogeris family, but they also have the longest tail of the group. As well, the name given to them, Plain.doesn't give justice to their beauty. At a glance they appear to be a one-color bird, lime green, but in flight their colors come out. The outside wing color is mostly a dark blue, yellow appears sporadically on the tail and head. The beak is horn colored.
I acquired one pair initially, and then received two more pair in a later shipment. The initial pair were from
them up in a four foot long by three feet high by one and a half foot wide suspended cage. The nest box was hung horizontally and measured four feet long with eight inch square interior dimension. Natural perches were used in the cage.
The pair seemed quite calm, but I assume that was because they were domestically bred.
After about six months they started to use the nest that was provided. I would catch the male exiting when [ entered the room I kept them in. It was not until about August that I first saw the female in the nest, and hy early October she would go to the opposite end of the nest upon inspection - hut she would not exit.
She laid five eggs starting on October 15th, 1998, with a ve1y unusual pattern. The second was laid a full week after the first, October 23rd, the third on October 27th, the fourth on October 30th, and the last on November 3rd.
On my inspection,the female would never leave the nest, and when feeding, the male would gorge himself, then go to the nest box entrance where he would meet the female and feed her.
Of the five eggs that were laid, only one proved to be fertile. What I assume to he the third egg laid, hatched on November 21st. It was the smallest chick I had ever seen, and appeared to be naked. After a few days he turned a fuzzy grey. [ left him with the parents to raise, although starting at about 10 days old, I took him out everyday and played with him for about ten minutes so he would be used to me.
On January 9th, 1999, I observed the baby leave the nest for the first time but he returned to the nest at night for about three days, after which I never saw him go in again.
I left him with the parents for about four months and then transferred him to a cage of his own.
The pair again laid five eggs and I am very happy to say all hatched and were raised to weaning by the parents. They have been introduced to their elder sibling and I hope to pair these birds up when the other unrelated pairs begin to breed.