Personality

Two questions that getasked often on the Caique Mailing List are:
1) Should a caique be a 'first bird'?
2) What is the caique personality like?

It is a general consensus that caiques would not be recommended as a first bird. But, with a lot of research and a full understanding of what you are getting yourself into, it may be possible to provide a forever home for a caique. Too many parrots end up in need of adoption, so please do your research and consider well before purchasing any parrot.
With that said, read on and get some insight into the wonderful and challenging world of the caique personality as presented by the members of the Caique Mailing List. And please remember that each caique is his/her own parrot. As a species they are high energy birds who spend many hours playing. But as far as being sweet, being aggressive, etc., each has his/her own personality, so these descriptions do not describe every caique.

Some Caique Personality traits from the Caique Mailing List:

	"Caiques are fun, entertaining, full of beans, and they are flying can openers. Well, they sort of fly, more like flying bricks. They require a firm sort of discipline or they will walk all over you. And if they sense fear they will chase you all over the house. Terracotta chases my daughter all over the house." ~ Gina W.

	"Caiques are clowns and high-action birds. Maybe I wouldn't recommend them as a "first time bird", but I can't think of any other bird I would either, they ALL require time, patience, a willingness to not have a perfectly spotless house (ever again), firmness, gentleness, and I'll say it, a lot of money. Birds of any sort cost much more in both initial outlay and upkeep expenses than do most other house pets. Cages, food (high quality pellets, fresh veggies, etc.) toys, vet care (astronomical in relation to cats and dogs) some damage to house, toys again, travel cages, more food, better vacuum cleaner, pet-sitters, grooming, more toys, etc." ~ Heidi B.

	"These birds are nonstop bundles of energy. They MUST have a LARGE cage and a playgym. They need constant supervision when out of the cage. They eat and drink like nothing I could ever have imagined. My little Zeek loves to wrestle with my hands while laying on his back. I bounce my hand across the carpet, and he bounces after it. He also likes to be chased and bounces away laughing. These are very intelligent birds. Zeek whistles loudly for me if I leave him for a few seconds on the play gym. Sometimes he will come looking for me. He can be loud, especially when water is running. Don't forget that if you purchase a caique you will have it for 30+ years! I don't think it is right to disrupt a bird's life and home and sell it, if possible to avoid it." ~ Jenny E.

	"I have a 2 ½ year old WBC, Cricket, who has become the center of the household. She's a handful and requires lots of patience, but so sweet and funny as well as challenging. You will need lots of toys, lots of climbing room, and lots of patience are essential. The rewards are tremendous. Cricket has a bit of a short fuse (Donald Duck-like temper, with lots of bluff) and does not like to be thwarted (from chewing electric cords, chasing the dogs, ending hands-on playtime, etc.), but she comes around quickly if we're insistent and refuse to be intimidated." ~ Barbara G.

	"They can have a temper. You have to learn to read their body language. If a caique says no or not now, he means it. I think we get into most trouble when Roscoe says no and we go right ahead with our plans; leads to trouble every time. Take the time to figure him out, because he is not going to try to figure you out." ~ Dorothy C.

	"We love our female BHC, Bandi. She is 2 ½ now. Not all caiques or parrots are alike, as I hate to generalize, but here are my pros and cons. Pros: Bandi is social and loves people (although some caiques do not like people outside the family). She is bonded to both my husband and I. She is cuddly, playful, and sweet. She plays with most toys, likes a variety of toys (acrylic, soft woods, ones easily shredded, kabobs or cardboard, plastic). Eats a lot! (likes most everything). She is smart. Cons: If you want to call them that. Needs lots of supervision out of cage - tends to like to get adventurous and start exploring places she shouldn't! Messy eater (most caiques fling or shake off food). Stubborn at times/strong willed. Likes to know where flock members are at all times (hubby and I and our other fids) so if one goes out of sight she gets anxious and tends to call out or whistle to find out where we are (used to scream but we trained that out, substituting other calls or whistling back and forth). ~ Lin

	"Nothing prepared us for our little Buttons. Oh, I LOVE HIM TO DEATH!, but he is so different from our other birds… very high activity level, always getting into mischief (in fact, his first phrase that he learned was "what are you doing?). I have found that I love this little bird more than I thought I could love anything, other than may husband! However, we do have some challenges… Buttons goes through moods where he wants nothing more than to rip my face off… I still have a scar on my top lip to prove that! For some reason he gets very aggressive at times and it took me a little while to be able to read him… Now, when I see those eyes pin, his shoulders hunch and hear this little huffing noise I know to back off! Fortunately my husband can handle him at these times, to get him back in his cage for a little cooling off period. As of yet we have not found out what triggers these moods... we're still working on that. But since I have learned to carefully read his body language, I have not gotten bit." ~ Holly

	"Of my six caiques, four are excellent fliers. I would put them up against any for speed and agility. My smallest one is a 2 year old female and Kendra is quite an acrobatic flier. The other two are only recently flighted and older, 5 and 13, and probably have never flown. We are working on them. Caiques may be chunky in build but do not underestimate them." ~ Heather K.

	"I have had Bailey for two years and I have never seen hormonal behavior yet. Bails has been the same old bird as ever, just don't take a pen away from him!! He goes crazy, and does the mad pig squeal ( Cleo's pig squeal). I just love to hear that… reminds me of a two year old that isn't getting his way. He is always ready to come out of his cage and play, and see what he can get into." ~ Betty B.

	"When Rio wants to play and I want to put him up, he can hang onto me for dear life! He is so funny. He'll be hanging on to my fingers so tight that I can't pry his feet off without being afraid I'll hurt him. I even use food or treats, but he has no interest in them if he really wants to play. I usually have to trick him by trying to get him to go after my other hand which I'm holding out so he'll have to jump off one hand to go after the other. It's not really a problem for me. I just think it's funny how he tries so hard to stay on my hand. Rio thinks I'm the best playgym there is!! Something else that's really cute about Rio is how he loves to sleep with his little stuffed chipmunk. He'll bring it out of his tent (on the floor of his cage) during the day, but he always takes it back in when he goes to bed. He wrestles with it and fusses at it. And he'll be on his back holding the chipmunk up on his feet. Caiques are so fun and entertaining." ~ Julie P.

	"Not all caiques love everyone. I have one who loves everyone and one who will bite if they try to pick him up. I think it depends on the personality of the bird." ~ Janet T.
	Dunking Please note that dunking is a challenge for us parronts as it means we have to stay on top of changing the water. If water is allowed to set with food in it our parrots can get bacterial infections that can threaten their health. So, water needs to be change a couple of times a day.
	Neither Cleo nor Monte do a lot of food dunking, but Cleo loves to dunk her toys. She also likes to put items that are made of paper into her water dish. And if you give her a new cup type toy, you can be assured that she is going to go dip it in the water bowl and get water all over the bottom of her cage. But, it seems to be a lot of fun for her and it cleans up.

	"For my 2 guys their water bowl is literally part of their life: just about everything they put in their mouth - food or toy - gets dunked in there first; plus they are avid bathers. So, even though this means changing water at least twice a day, they get such pleasure (and make such a mess) from their water bowl." ~ Nancy C.

	"Taz is definitely a dunker. Almost everything goes into the water bowl before being consumed. And that means a walk across the cage to get to the water bowl. So I guess it gives him a little exercise. I change the water twice a day." ~ Joy

	"Papaya munched a bit on his cracker then climbed down one perch to the next and crossed that one to catch another perch on the other side of the cage, then climbed down a perch and dunked his piece of cracker into the water bowl. The fun part was that he then reversed his trip back to the original perch to munch on his soaked cracker rather than stay by the water bowl to eat. I keep food and water bowls wide apart in the cages but as you've "seen" that doesn't help… just a bit more exercise to get the dunking accomplished" ~ Marilyn W.

	"Bandi is definitely a dunker. Her water bowl is also on the other side of the cage. I see her most on her playgym, in which, almost everything gets a dunk, even veggies!!" ~ Lin

	"Not only is Bailey a dunker, he has a water bottle and pushes he food in the nozzle and clogs it up. So you have to make sure that the bottle is open so he can drink. I have other birds and they do this also. One green check pushes pellets and makes a mash that dries like paste." ~ Betty B.

	"None of my three really dunk. When they were younger they did, but rarely do now." ~ Chris H.

	"Ollie is a certified dunker. I have to change his water so often. He also makes 'soup', made of tiny chunks of Harrison's, veggies, paper, etc. He also dunks all of his toys. He has a little plastic bottle cap he fills with water and spills all over." ~ Jayne S.

	"Luna and Eddie are definitely dunkers. Pellets, dried fruit - anything in their food dish is somehow enhanced by soaking it in a little bit of water. They also make the "caique purring" sound while eating and dunking. Very talented!!" ~ Michelle S.

	"Roscoe doesn't dunk everything, but some of what ever he gets ends up in the water dish. He also soaks his wooden beads. I keep a doggie dish on the top of his cage/playgym so he can bath whenever he wants. He uses that for the toy soaking and the water dish for food soaking" ~ Dorothy

	"Buttons is a dunker! He will dunk everything from seeds, nuts, fruit, even his chicken. He has quite a nice stew going by the end of the day!" ~ Holly

	"Well, Kiwi and Norman have a water bottle in their cage because Norman thought it was great fun to dump his water and then go over to the mini macaw's cage and dump his water. They still like to get their treats wet with their water bottle, but can not dump the water now while I am at work." ~ Janet T.

	"When the dunking conversation was posted before, Papagei was not a dunker.....well.....let's just say I now know what y'all mean by "pea soup".... He dunks his pellets in it. It is quite methodical. Picks up a pellet, climbs to the water dish, drops the pellet in, watches it bounce to the bottom and back up again, then sticks his foot in to grasp it and eat it. Quite cute actually until I see the water later on...ugh!" ~Ally