My Red Belly Female Gaugan

[Pajarita]

Well, the question was because, some of them (not all) have both an ocular ring (a circle around the eye which has no feathers) and something like a mask (darker grey feathers around a dark ocular ring and a darker cere).

This male has a light ocular ring but no mask: http://animal-world.com/encyclo/birds/p ... Parrot.php

This male has a dark ocular ring and the 'mask' I was talking about:
http://www.animalphotos.me/bird6/bird6-redb.htm

[seagoatdeb]

Mine has the what you call the mask. She didnt get it untill she got older. if the lighter eye rings got the further coloring of the mask like colouring, it would be very hard to see with they grey feathrs of the head.

[Pajarita]

Yes... I don't know if it's age, diet or both because I am pretty sure Isis did not have anything when she first came to me and she now has a thin dark line on top of her cere and darker spots that go from the beak to the eye extending the smallest bit on the bottom but not even reaching halfway around the eye and nothing on top of the eye as if the 'mask' was in the early stages, know what I mean? Or maybe, this is all she will ever get... Time will tell.

[seagoatdeb]

I do know you can tell the age of some Pois very roughly by the eye rings. No eye rings is a young bird. Small eye rings they are under 5 years. Large eye rings and they are over 10 years. I am pretty sure Isis eye rings will continue to develop, but you are right time will tell.

[Jhaynes1230]

It has nothing to do with sunlight or age in this case. They have redbellys as old as 19 with the lighter eye rings and they have been exposed to sunlight often just like my darker eye ring Redbelly has. I have never heard of the eye ring area being called a mask, but I am speaking about the area surrounding the eye. Here is a link where they have a bit to say about the lighter eye ring Red Bellys.
http://www.wingscc.com/aps/re-desc.htm

Sorry if I came across as trying to be an expert on this. This was from information provided to me from a long time breeder of ARB, but I have no first hand knowledge. I was simply parroting (pun intended) what I was told.

[Wolf]

I don't think that anyone thought that you were trying to come off like an expert, I know that I didn't.

Besides there is only one expert on parrots, and that is the one who is listened to the least and that expert is the parrot itself.

[Pajarita]

No, I didn't take it as that, either. Every single little bit of info is good, even if it's wrong because, as I always do research on every single new thing I hear, it helps me expand my knowledge.

Lots of people take breeders' word as been accurate, same as they take an avian vet's word on diet as been expert but, like Wolf said, unfortunately for us -and the birds, there are no experts. We are only now beginning to scratch the surface of knowledge when it comes to parrots...

[seagoatdeb]

No you didnt come across as an expert and what you said is correct, as pois get older there surrounding eye ring does get darker and bigger. These Pois with the light eye rings are different. The males look the same except for the differnt color eye rings but the females are lighter with far less orange/peachy feathers. There eye rings get very large too as they age but they are staying a light grey.

[seagoatdeb]

I had to post this pic of Gaugan as it turned out so eerie. We were at a mall and I was in the car with Gaugan as she perched on the steering wheel and the sun reflected light from the green van parked besides it. Her pose and the light made such an interesting pic.

[liz]

J instead of coming off like you thought you "know it all". You came across as someone sharing what is known. I accept knowledge any way I can get it.
Wolf and Pajarita are far ahead of me with their research and hands on experience. There are many people in this forum who, though they don't claim to know much about parrot, come up with info on something I had not even thought of. I am grateful to these humans that share things they know.
I have been a parasite in this forum by using what others know. I have not contributed much at all except for looking at things from a mother's point of view.