Caiques are about 9 inches, they are native to South America and can have a lifespan of 30 years. White Bellied Caiques are beautifully colored and their colors remind me of a Shasta Daisy with a beautiful peach and yellow head, a white belly, green back and wings, and cute yellow legs!! Juvenile birds will often have black feathers on the top of their head. Some babies will have more black feathers, and other birds may have very few. The best way you can be assured that you are indeed purchasing a white bellied caique and not a black headed caique is to look closely at the baby's beak color. If the baby has a dark colored beak it is not a white bellied caique. White bellied caiques have a light bone colored beak.

Caiques are tremendously social and don't have the tendency to become attached to one family member over the other. They will usually be happy to step up on anyone who offers. They are packed full of boundless energy and are very comical. To see a caique doing a bunny hop, or rolling over on his back to play is absolutely hillarious!! Caiques should always have foot toys to play with. You will see how the foot toys will encourage your baby to play on their backs!! Swings and ladders are also very much enjoyed by caiques. Caiques enjoy chewing wood and can become quite the little beavers!! Toys should always be closely inspected for safety!!

Caiques can become rather loud chirpers. My experience is that this loud chirping occurs mainly in the morning as they greet the day, and in the evening as they seem to enjoy "singing" themselves to sleep. I often suggest to my customers who are bothered by the morning and evening chirping to have a sleepy time cage which is placed in a back room. This cage can be a small cockatiel type of cage and should be equiped with a bowl of food and water and also a snuggly type toy and perhaps a comfortable rope perch. In the evening after playtime tell your baby "night night" and put him in his cage. He will chirp himself to sleep and you and your family can enjoy homework and tv time without the loud chirping. In the morning as soon as you get up you will want to bring your baby back to the family living area. Babies seem to enjoy this quiet sleeping situation and get used to it very quickly.

I find caiques to be quite bossy also. Discipline, understanding, lots of socialization, and love are very necessary right from the start of a caique's life. If a caique thinks that they can bite fingers and grab eye glasses off your face then that is exactly what your caique is going to do every single chance they get!! If they realize you don't want them to play under the couch, then that is exactly where they will run as soon as you let them out of their cage. I find the solution is distraction and never ever show that you are bothered by the offense!! If they see a reaction they are happy and they look for that reaction the next time too. So, if under the couch is where your caique runs to, perhaps you should have a really cool bird-safe toy somewhere between his cage and the couch. If you have a problem with biting, we suggest trying a small "shake" of the finger your bird is perched on to distract from the biting. Encourage the good behavior, and distraction for the bad behavior. I find that difficult foraging toys make really good distraction tactics.

We raise our caiques with lots of gentle love and firm distraction tactics. All caiques are trained to step up, and to stay on a play ground while playing. They are weaned on a diet of fresh bean and grain sprouts, vegetables, fruit, and roudybush small pellets and a little bit of seeds and nuts for treats. We find that seeds and nuts are good to use as foraging treats.