Domestic Canary (Serinus Canaria Domesticus): Water is the most important thing for your Canary. Make sure that there is fresh clean water available for your Canary at all times. They can die without water in less than 24 hours. They are also very active and need to have plenty of food. Canaries only eat the top layer off of their food dish, so if feeding seeds, be sure to clean out empty hulls. They like to fly so select them a home that is longer than it is tall. The bigger the cage the more your pet will like it. Place perches at different heights. They don’t need much interaction and would rather not be held.
Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia guttata castanotis or Poephila guttata): The normal coloring of Zebra Finches makes it easy to tell the males from the females. Males have a number of distinguishing features including: orange cheek patches, stripes on the throat, black bar on the breast and a chestnut colored flank with white spots. Females do not have the orange on the cheeks, their other colorings are less dominant than the males. The beak color on both males and females is orange/red and usually brighter in males than females. They like to bathe several times a day and will usually take full advantage of their water dish for this purpose.
Budgerigar Parakeet (Melopsittacus undulatus): The true name for a Parakeet is a Budgerigar. They are also called a Budgie for short. The Natural (normal) color of a Budgie is bright green with yellow forehead and cheeks. The Cere (nostril part above the beak) is usually blue in males and brown in females, but I have seen light lavender in females. Some have solid dark colored eyes; others have white irises or even yellow circles around the iris. Budgerigars are about 7in long.
Peachface Lovebird (Agapornis roseicollis) and Masked Lovebird (Agapornis personatus): These two species of Lovebirds are about 6 to 7 inches long. They live about 15 years. When you get a tame lovebird, it is best to keep just one. If you have more than one lovebird in a cage, it is less likely to be your friend. It will bond with its cage mate instead. Peachface lovebirds can have many different color mutations. Masked lovebirds are most common in their standard green, but also come in shades of blue.
Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus): Cockatiels are the second most popular pet bird. They are easy to care for and can be taught tricks. They bond easily with their care taker. Make sure to provide lots of toys and rotate the toys often so that they do not get bored. When introducing a new toy, let your bird get used to it outside of its cage before just putting it in. Don't force the toy on to your tiel because they tend to be frightened by new / different things.
Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus): Also known as a Quaker Parrot is the only parrot that builds a stick nest, in a tree or on a man-made structure, rather than using a hole in a tree. Monk Parakeets are highly intelligent, social birds. Those kept as pets routinely develop large vocabularies. They are able to learn scores of words and phrases.
Timneh African Grey Parrot (Psittacus erithacus timneh): There are two sub-species of African Grey Parrots, the Timneh and the Congo. Timnehs are smaller in size, have a darker charcoal grey coloring, a darker maroon tail, and a light, horn-colored area on the upper mandible. The Timneh African Grey parrot is endemic to the western parts of the moist Upper Guinea forests and bordering savannas of West Africa from Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone and Southern Mali east to at least 43 miles east of the Bandama River in Ivory Coast. It is often called a "TAG". As pets Timnehs begin learning to speak earlier than Congos, and are often said to be less nervous around strangers and novel situations.
Orange-winged Amazon (Amazona amazonica): The Orange-winged Amazon is a mainly green parrot about 13in long and weighing about 340 gm. It has blue and yellow feathers on its head which varies in extent between individuals. The upper mandible is partly horn colored and partly dark-grey. It has orange feathers in the wings and tail, which can be seen when in flight.
Blue-fronted Amazon (Amazona aestiva): The Blue-fronted Amazon is a mainly green parrot about 15in long. They have blue feathers on the forehead above the beak and yellow on the face and crown. Distribution of blue and yellow varies greatly among individuals. Unlike most other Amazona parrots, its beak is mostly black. Juveniles of all parrots are duller and have dark irises.
NOTE: The Information on this site and the Web sites listed are intended as resources only. They are not a substitute for professional veterinary care. We recommended consulting a certified avian veterinarian with any questions or concerns.
