Feathered Family Inc.

What can one say about Ringneck Parakeets? A lot actually. These little birds have no idea how little they are. Full sized parrot packed in a pint sized body. Wonderful little acrobatic clowns who will do anything to make you laugh. Beaks that can bring blood without much effort.

I personally am devoted to my Indian Ringneck Mazzie. Even living in a house full of birds, she is the light of my life. She allows me to cuddle, kiss and pet her at will. She is devoted to me and will follow me anywhere.  Before I give you the wrong idea let me tell you about the other side. Let me first get rid of one MYTH. Indian ringnecks are not Family birds. These birds develop strong bonds with ONE person. They can be friendly with others but will be devoted to the person they choose. Do not think you can train your bird to love you and no one else, the bird will pick. A ringnecks bite is painful, and often draws blood. This bird does not generally enjoy being pet, their tightly knit feathers enable them to fly like the wind, but can also make being pet uncomfortable. You can expect an IRN to learn to speak, but that is no guarantee. Some do, some dont. These birds are easy to sex, as a mature male has a "ring" around his neck, a different color for each mutation. They also have a hormonal cycle that can make anyone crazy. Three months out of the year Mazzie is determined to kill everyone but me, including Buddy, our male IRN. This can be hard if I have to deal with other things and someone else is forced to feed her. IRN's are also capable of an amazing amount of noise. I've heard it said that they are only noisy when bored, and I beg to differ. My experience is that the Ringneck conversational mode is rather noisy. The natural Alarm call can make your eyes water from a different room.

Being pint sized does not mean being managable. You must be careful when caging these little wonders, giving them enough room for thier long lovely tails, and enough bar strength that they cannot bite through the bars or clip the welds and exit when they decide they want to. Wing clips with IRN's are very important, as they are extremely good fliers when unclipped, and have been known to become dominant when unclipped. Each bird of course has its own personality.

IRN's come in an amazing range of color mutations, from Albino to a beautiful Colbalt Blue. Breeding ringnecks is not for the novice, there is madness behind the method. One other thing to note before considering a ringneck, they have long memories. A small slight will be remembered for a long time. Patience-patience-patience is the key with these little wonders. In time, you too could have someone who coo's happily at seeing you walk into a room.

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