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Male quaker on the outside with female peering out of breeder box.
Adaptable
Birds.
Although these guys and gals originally came from the jungles of Brasil
and nearby countries, they
don’t need a jungle – or even warm weather.
They’ve escaped and colonized in our warmer U.S.
states.
We’ve personally seen a flock of 18 flying along the lake front
jogging trail in downtown Chicago.
By the way, some people call them Monk parrots -- look at their
Latin name.
Nice
Size.
Quakers grow about the same size as a cockatiel minus the long tail
feathers. They also weigh at
least twice as much and can bite at least twice as hard.
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Nice looking quaker parrot. Head down, ready to be petted.
Appearance.
Quakers look like your basic green parrot with a grey chest plus a
bit of blue trim.
They also come in blue, lutino (yellow) and other colors.
These non-greens cost quite a bit more.
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Young quaker parrots snuggle up against you because they think they are little
short people.
Personality.
Hand-fed quakers love to be handled.
They also like to walk around the room and let your other pets know
who’s boss.
Talkers.
Most quakers start learning to talk at about six months of age. Bird
experts put them in the list of top ten talkers.
The more you talk to them, the better they learn to talk.
They also learn best from women.
Quakers identify with their higher pitched voices.
Lighting
Needs.
Most birds stay healthier when you provide full-spectrum lighting.
They also show truer colors.
Vitamins.
If you convert your quaker parrot to pellets, it won’t need vitamins or
other supplements. Quakers on
a seed diet often pick out their favorites and ignore the rest -- or throw
them on your floor.
Cage
Skirt.
Some don’t ignore their uneaten seeds.
They like to pick them up and see how far they can flip them.
A cage skirt will cut out about 90% of their mess.
Yes, they may eventually chew thru their cage skirt.
Toys.
Toys also help reduce the mess.
Toys give them something else with which to occupy their busy
little brains (and beaks). They
will reduce any wood toy to splinters.
They like to chew on branches. They love to chew up doggy rope toys. Rotate their toys often. They
have very short memories.
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Quaker parrot breeder box on each side of cage.
Cage.
The bigger the better. A
nice size cockatiel cage with a big door works great.
You can’t give quakers too much room.
Take your quaker out and handle it as often as possible.
Many quaker breeders keep their quakers in outdoor aviaries. They
pull the chicks and hand-rear them. The parents are still wild
birds. Wear gloves when pulling the chicks.
Water.
Use a water bottle. This
keeps their water cleaner. They like an untippable water bowl to use for a bath tub.
They also like light mistings.
Set your mister on fine spray (not stun).
Foods.
As mentioned earlier, pellets keep them healthier.
They still prefer seeds because they love to shell them and nibble
them to bits. Always give them
an assortment of treats – as well as bits of fruit and vegetables.
In other words, every critter likes changes in their diets.
Remove any wet treat foods after a reasonable time.
They really love peanuts and sunflower seeds. Limit their consumption of
both or they get fat. Then you have to buy tem a treadmill and
jogging shoes.
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Pic
Quaker parrots lay strange shaped egg. Slightly larger than life size.
Breeding.
Use a cockatiel breeder box. In
the wild, they build big, twiggy nests that resemble squirrel nests.
Each new crop of grown-up babies adds to the original nest.
Other hook bills don’t colonize this easily.
They don’t build twig nests either.
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Baby quakers spend lots of time "sleeping it off."
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Pic
Not quite a bird yet. Baby quaker parrots will not eat that seed.
Babies.
Parent quakers regurgitate their food into the babies crops.
You can do this by hand also. Best
of all you needn’t chew and regurgitate the food yourself.
It comes in a powdered form to which you just add warm water and
feed them with a large syringe.
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Baby quaker parrots learn to grab that syringe in approximately two seconds.
Hand
Feeding. When
you feed them with your syringe, fill their crop till they fall
over. Do not feed them again until they empty their crop.
Putting new food on top the old uneaten food encourages bacterial growth
and causes problems you never want to see.
Parental
Care.
Parents allowed to keep their babies usually start a second clutch
of eggs in four weeks. You really should finish feeding them
yourself. You get better babies. And, feeding them is fun.
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A few weeks later the little pin cushion grows into a real quaker parrot.
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Cheer up and watch the birdy.
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Alright. Ham it up. That's much better.
LA
Last
Word.
Hand-fed quakers make excellent pets. They won’t bite you like a
pair of pliers. They think they’re little people.
LA
©
2002,
© 2003,
© 2004,
© 2007
LA Productions
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