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Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

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Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby zazanomore » Sun Oct 03, 2010 8:34 pm

At a local pet store there is a sweet looking kakariki. I did some research and found out that it was the red-fronted variety (red crowned parakeet).

The one in the pet store is the yellow mutation. He (well I think he's a he) is such an interesting little bird.

Whenever I go to a pet store I act like a child. I go up to every bird window, and whistle to the different birds. When I whistled at the Kakariki he looked right at me and made a funny noise. It wasn't really a normal parrot sound. So I whistled again, and he made the sound back to me. We continued to do this for 10 minutes. He got right up to me, as close as he could, and I did something that I probably shouldn't of done. I put my fingers in the cage and he let me pet him. It was so adorable, and I instantly fell in love with the breed.

I tried looking them up online, but it mostly said "they don't like people" and don't tend to make very good pets. I just want to know if there's anyone on this site who has one, and can give me a bit of info on them.

Are they loud? Are they really dusty like cockatiels? How much do they like being handled? Are they generally aggressive? Are the males louder then the females? Are they high maintenance? Do they eat a special diet? Please. Spare no detail.

I'm know I am not going to buy a new bird anytime soon, but I just want to learn more!
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zazanomore
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Re: Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby zazanomore » Sun Oct 03, 2010 8:36 pm

I just found the noise it made

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0JoCEuo ... re=related

it was this :)
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Clyde - :budgie:
Einstein - :greycockatiel:
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zazanomore
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Re: Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby pchela » Sun Oct 03, 2010 10:40 pm

What I know about Kakarikis is that they are wicked fast, not the most social bird as far as wanting to be handled and not too loud. And that's about it for my knowledge of them.
"I bet the sparrow looks at the parrot and thinks, yes, you can talk, but LISTEN TO YOURSELF!" ~ Jack Handy ~ Deep Thoughts
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Re: Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby a.susz » Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:38 am

it seems like this breed is in its infancy for domestication? not sure, as in not many people have them. it takes a few generations to get calm, peaceful, loving pets.
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Re: Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby Kim S » Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:11 pm

I have had a couple of kakarikis in my aviary and I bred a few. They dont tend to make good pets since they are truly flying-birds. They are aerial acrobats! Flying defines them. If kept in a cage without enough flying time they would waste away, let alone if you would consider clipping them.
In the aviary they never sat still for a single moment. Flying around chasing eachother, making loopings though the air. They are very entertaining birds to watch!

The young I had were very easily tame and loved to be around me. The parents, who I got as older birds, were very bold. When I stepped into the aviary with food they wouldnt hesitate to fly to me and start eating. So I guess they could make good pets tame-wise.

They make the sweetest goatlike sounds when comunicating. They can screach/whistle really loud, but dont usualy.

They are messy birds though. They love to dig through the foodbowl looking for the best seeds. When digging they can fling seeds up to 10 feet away. So be prepared to have a big mess.

We eventually ha dto get rid of them since they dont make good companions for cockatiels. Tiels are very soft charactered birds and get very nervous with these activebirds around.
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Re: Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby zazanomore » Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:12 pm

a.susz wrote:it seems like this breed is in its infancy for domestication? not sure, as in not many people have them. it takes a few generations to get calm, peaceful, loving pets.



I've read that in the States they are extremely rare. However, there are plenty of breeders in Canada. They also cost about 100-150$ CAD.

I have had a couple of kakarikis in my aviary and I bred a few. They dont tend to make good pets since they are truly flying-birds. They are aerial acrobats! Flying defines them. If kept in a cage without enough flying time they would waste away, let alone if you would consider clipping them.


My birds were clipped before I got them. The budgies have their flight feathers fully intact, and Einstien's are slowly but surely growing in. I don't see why them loving to fly would make them bad pets. Get them a larger cage. My birds are out of the cage 75% of the time.
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Re: Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby stickyfeet » Wed Nov 03, 2010 2:45 pm

Hi,

We have a red crested kak named Boo. He's about 2.5 years old - we've had him for 2. We have learned so much in the last 2 years about these little birds.

He was basically wild when we rescued him from the pet store - his foot was bleeding all over his cage and he was right by the front door, so everytime the door opened he'd get a blast of air, which is not so great. It took him a while to get used to us - he was terrified when we first brought him home. His wings were clipped, so he couldn't go far.

They will eat pretty much anything, I'm told, but Boo, if he's not familiar with something, he'll very tentatively crane his head forward, stick out his tongue, and taste the item. If he doesn't like it, he gives you a bit of a baleful look and moves away. If he does, he moves in. Our little guy doesn't bite - well, only when we've had to hold him to give him eye drops for an infection. Otherwise he's very gentle.

He's a very active bird. Because he wasn't hand tamed, he won't really sit on us/shoulders, although he has landed on us. Apparently, how they get to know you, or you know if you're accepted is if they swoop really close to you when they're flying around. And they flying is amazing. I've seen Boo in mid flight, dead cannonball sprint, and hits the open door just as my husband walks through. He banked on a dime and continued swooping around - their responses are hair trigger.

We feed him fresh stuff every day - 3 different dishes for fruit, veg & cooked seeds/cereal mixed with fruit. He goes up and down with them - sometimes he can't get enough of the bok choy, other times it's pomegranate seeds. And he LOVES sunflower seeds.

He is hilarious though - he gives these big loud ratatatat sounds when he's feeling pretty cheeky and territorial. Very funny. And you're right - they do not sound like regular birds - at different times he sounds like a pinball game or a chicken. Lots of personality though.

They are actually a colder weather bird; they have a very thick feathery coat. Boo loves it when we put ice cubes in his bath (glass pie plate), and in fact, will usually wait until we do put them in. They are huge bathers. Right now, he's going through a brutal moult - he actually lost his whole tail. This is the first time we've seen this, but it's already growing back. He's just very tired and doesn't have much energy.

I'd be happy to tell you anything else about him if you want to contact me directly. Let me know, and good luck if you decide to go forward!

Best,
Jacki
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Re: Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby TheNzJessie » Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:17 am

kakariki is a bird native to new zealand, i ahve seen a few in my time as they are classified as indangerd i never knew they were in other countries, are we talking about the same type of bird?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%81k%C4%81riki
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Re: Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby Kim S » Fri Nov 05, 2010 10:38 am

I am.
I had a couple of wild coloured ones as well as some pied. Very pretty birds.

And I never said they were not suitable to be pets becourse of their need to fly. I just implied that if you choose to keep kakariki's you need to understand that they have to have some descent hours of flyingtime.
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Re: Anyone know anything about Kakarikis?

Postby zazanomore » Fri Nov 05, 2010 11:38 am

TheNzJessie wrote:kakariki is a bird native to new zealand, i ahve seen a few in my time as they are classified as indangerd i never knew they were in other countries, are we talking about the same type of bird?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C4%81k%C4%81riki


Yup.
Bonnie - :budgie2:
Clyde - :budgie:
Einstein - :greycockatiel:
Alyssa - :thumbsup:
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zazanomore
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Location: Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
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Types of Birds Owned: Cockatiels
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