Abstract
Although I have been an active
aviculturist since 1 was 16 years old, I
was totally unprepared for my introduction
to the pionus group. When
we obtained our first bronze-winged
pionus in the winter of 1982 I was
immediately impressed by their
gentleness, their subtle coloration
and, of course, by the lack of the loud
shrieking. that I had experienced with
the Amazons. It was what you might
call love at first sight. I had to have
more, so we arranged to buy three
additional specimens which, when
combined with our first, gave us two
pairs.
As we were living in the city at the
time, the birds spent their first several
months living in a common parrot
cage. In April 1983 we moved out to
our present location in the desert
and, shortly thereafter, each pair was
given permanent housing. est boxes
were not provided until the fall of
1983.
In)anuary 1984, pair no. 1 consisting
of a mature male and what I was
informed was an immature female,
were observed copulating. They were
housed in a 3' suspended cube with a
10" x 12" x 18" nest box. Sometime
during the month she began to lay,
so we kept a close eye on the pair and
were rewarded by two more eggs on
the 6th and 9th.