Wednesday, April 23, 2008

What caique rapprochement?

The caiques had been getting along better as of late. I'm not sure how much I mentioned on here, but they have been sharing a stand with no problems. Calypso definitely was still king -- Beeps made sure to get out of his way -- but Calypso didn't seem to be intentionally antagonizing him as he had in the past.

I was secretly hoping that they would continue down this path and hopefully get to the point where they would preen each other. They just have to do a better job of removing each others' head pin feathers than me!

Another thing I should mention is that if you do an Internet search about caiques, one thing frequently mentioned is how they hop instead of walk. I have not found this to be the case with either of my caiques. In fact, both Max and Rocky hop exponentially more than the caiques.

Within the past week, the caiques have started doing something rather strange. I'm not exactly sure how to describe it, but basically Calypso starts chasing Beeps around. This chase is executed mostly with hopping, although there is a bit of flying at the end. I think it may be a form of play since Calypso could jump him if he really wanted a fight (this has happened in the past). And neither bird seems agitated while this is going on. Perhaps a friendship is forming?

This starts with Calypso hopping next to Beeps. Beeps beeps (of course!) and hops away. Calypso follows. It is fascinating and funny to watch. They look like video game characters. They'll usually hop around the two stands in the kitchen a few times, and then Beeps tires and flies off to a different stand or his cage. Calypso does not yet have enough confidence in his flying to follow, so the game ends there, to be repeated later.

I will try to get this on video, but past attempts have ended with Beeps flying at me and trying to attack the camera, which puts an end to the game.

They were playing this game this morning, when Beeps made an unexpected hop/short flight into a plant:
No sooner had I put my camera away when Calypso followed him into a neighboring plant:
They were both hanging on to their plants, beeping and calling in the way they do when they want to be rescued, so I moved them to their stand where they happily stayed for the rest of the morning.

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