steveg@hpcvnb.CV.HP.COM (Steven_Grant) (03/15/90)
/ hpcvnb:rec.birds / mary@dinorah.wustl.edu (Mary E. Leibach) / 9:34 am Mar 13, 1990 / >steveg@hpcvnb.CV.HP.COM (Steven_Grant) writes: >>I have a >>Green-Cheek Conure which is probably the closest cousin to a Maroon-Belly. >>In fact he (or she :-)) looks so much like a Maroon-Belly that my Vet thought >>he was one when he first saw him. The only difference is the Green Cheek >>patch that my bird has. Size and all other colorings are the same. > >Then you do not have a pure-blooded Green Cheek, you have a Green >Cheek/Maroon-Belly hybrid, like my Vila. A pure-blooded Green Cheek >does NOT have the red patch on the belly, or the red over the cere, >and has a slightly different color tail. I have a picture of a >pure-blooded Green Cheek in front of me right now (from Bird Talk >magazine). You cannot confuse the two species. I have just started getting Bird Talk. I would like to see that issue. What year & month is it in? The pictures I have seen were in a large bird book that the pet shop has (I'll try to get the name later). In this book the Green Cheek did have some red coloring on it's chest (of one of two birds they pictured). It was not as predominent (sp?) as what a Maroon-Belly but it was there. Who knows... maybe they got their birds mixed up, or had a picture of a hybrid? Maybe they are not identical, but they do look a lot the same. > In my humble opinion, >though, the hybrid is a much prettier bird than either parent species. Well of course! Ask any parent... they all have the cutest kids :-). I agree with you completely! >Vila agrees with this, and will scream "Pretty" at the top of his >lungs at anyone who dares to disagree (his opinions are not very >humble and are usually loudly expressed). Yes, I don't dare argue this one with my bird either. As far as he is concerned, A FACT IS A FACT. ---------- Steve
mary@dinorah.wustl.edu (Mary E. Leibach) (03/16/90)
steveg@hpcvnb.CV.HP.COM (Steven_Grant) writes: >I have just started getting Bird Talk. I would like to see that issue. >What year & month is it in? January 1989. It is an article about five small green parrots: Canary winged (BeeBee) parakeets, lovebirds, budgies, green cheeks, and lineolated (barred) parakeets. It has a lovely half-page picture of a green cheek (no red on chest or above cere) in the pullout section in the middle. >The pictures I have seen were in a large >bird book that the pet shop has (I'll try to get the name later). In this >book the Green Cheek did have some red coloring on it's chest (of one of >two birds they pictured). It was not as predominent (sp?) as what a >Maroon-Belly but it was there. Who knows... maybe they got their birds >mixed up, or had a picture of a hybrid? Maybe they are not identical, >but they do look a lot the same. The main characteristics of the hybrid (or at least of Vila) seem to be the green cheek of the Green Cheek, and a less predominent red belly than the Maroon belly. I'd say the book had a hybrid. >Well of course! Ask any parent... they all have the cutest kids :-). >I agree with you completely! I mean, I prefer having the green cheeks AND the red belly. If I owned all three birds, I would still pick the hybrid. But whatever Vila was, he'd still be my birdy. Another GC hybrid is the Gray-Green Cheek. Not as cute though, IMHO. >Yes, I don't dare argue this one with my bird either. As far as he is >concerned, A FACT IS A FACT. Well, you know, pound for pound, a parrot's brain is probably better than the human brain. So much intelligence and personality is packed in that little case. Take Blakey for instance. He is a small parakeet, with a head not much bigger than my thumb. But only yesterday evening he came up with THREE new phrases: "I'll come right back" (one of Cally's), "Bye, bye Blakey" and "Hello, Cally" (from my conversation). Unlike Cally, however, Blakey just spews out strings of words, he usually doesn't associate them with anything other than his desire to vocalize. Cally usually knows what she is saying, and will say "I'll come right back" when I leave. (In her babyhood, when she and I lived with my mom and her dog Muffy, she would say "Good Dirl" when Muffy barked, confusing "dog" with "girl". My mom would say both.) Cally and Vila outdid their cuteness last night. We were watching TV, me on the couch, and the two of them side-by-side on a perch in their cage facing the TV. Happiness is a warm, feathery Birdy! -Mary and Feathery Friends