Play Time!

Having had time to somewhat recover financially, the brotos now have a new toy, a play gym by Aerobird!  Mismi was not quite at all sure what to do with this contraption at first, which I provided without any bedding in the bottom.

In fact, she hardly would even move on the edge of the gym.  She just sat there for the longest time, looking at me pathetically and moving her wings about as if debating the wisdom of flying off of this awkward contraption.  Xingu sticks his tongue out at her!  Xingu was much more curious, running about and playing with things, even the bell ball.

I am sure within a few more sessions on the gym, I will rue the day he learned to play the "uh oh" drop it game.  Xingu tried and tried and tried to get onto the pegs up front from the edge of the gym, but it just wasn't possible.  He even moved the ball from the corner to in front of the pegs to try and use it as a stepping stool.  Who ever says that birds are not smart has clearly not met Xingu!  Unfortunately, he soon learned that balls have this pesky habit of moving and aren't very useful stepping stones.

I put them on the gym again today, this time with kay kob in the bottom.  Mismi is no longer afraid of it and quite enjoyed herself today, running all over the place and having Xingu chase her to get a piece of papaya.

Now that the ladder is in position, they run all about, over, under, and even pecked at the toy a few times today.  The chain seems to be one of their favorite features.  They played a game of tag, and of course as soon as one of them finds a toy, the other has to come steal it from them.  They certainly are an adorably cute pair to watch.

Meet the Brotos!

Meet Mismi and Xingu

White Winged Parakeets - B. versicolurus

Welcome to Broto Diaries!  Mismi and Xingu squawk a welcome at you!  If you've been looking for more information on these beloved, cheeky, cheerful, adorable, attention-seeking little birds, look no further.  The three of us are going to document our journey of learning and fun experiences for all the web to read. I hope it gives you some better insight to help you with your birds, or to settle down on picking a species of bird to share your home with.

Brotogeris parakeets have a large family of members; white wings, canary wings (or chevroned), orange chinned, grey cheeked, cobalt wings, golden wings, plan parakeet, and tui parakeets all call the Brotogeris genus home.  The only bad thing about these amazing birds is how hard they are to find!  I lucked out at my local bird shop and the manager there said this was the first time she's had any Brotos in stock in over ten years.  These little guys were imported by the thousands from their native Peru, Brazil, and Amazon basin area and no respectable aviculturist wanted to waste time breeding birds that were being imported with such veracity.  The gray cheeked parakeets were the ambassador for the genus, making lifelong friends everywhere they went.  However, when most gray cheeks passed away at around twenty and their owners went to find another gray cheek, they ran into an alarming phenomena: their beloved birds were no where to be found!  With the Wild Bird Conservation Act putting a screeching halt on bird importation, there were very few of the Brotos left in America.  Breeders now took an interest, and many "normal" owners also turned their eyes towards breeding.  They didn't want to face a day without a Broto in their home ever again.  However, gray cheeks have proven to be somewhat problematic breeders, so some of the other broto species are gaining in modern popularity.

When I found Mismi at my local pet shop, I instantly fell in love with her endearing personality.  She was happy and content to simply ride around on my shoulder for hours.  I could play under her wings, ruffle her head/neck feathers, and do just about anything with her.  She was hanging upside off of my finger, and chirping happily.  While she had definitely not been in the budget, I simply could not leave her behind.  At home and doing research on the computer, I found a surprising lack of information on these birds.  Don't believe me?  Try and find multiple sources that agree on when they hit sexual maturity!  The information I've found varies from under a year to four years!  Definitely not a lot of continuity there.  What struck me the most was how few of these birds are available to the public.  A seasoned breeder of cockatiels, I started doing some digging.  I found a breeder in Florida that happened to have three males available.  Crossing my fingers, I had Mismi DNA tested and she turned out to be a confirmed girl!  Super excited, I ordered Xingu from the breeder and now have a "pair", though she seems to do an excellent job of loving him to annoyance.  

I'll be posting articles, snippets, and of course tons of pictures as time moves along. Birds willing, I will eventually be breeding the white wings.  A unique characteristic of these birds is that, while they still have a pair bond with each other, they don't lose interest in their human companions as many other species of birds do when they take a mate.  My two in fact will climb all over each other and push each other out of the way to get to me, even when they're both on my hand.  These are very loyal, people-loving birds that are just a joy to be around and be owned by.  Look forward to more posts later on!