Blue ring necked parakeet

[Becki]

I saw one of these at a pet store and have been meaning to ask you bird people about them. Anyone have one/ever seen one? Why are they called parakeets? They're as big as a medium size parrot!

Here's the little bit of info I found on them;
These birds grow to an average length of 16 inches. The average lifespan is 15 years. Females lack the nuchal collar of the males. Incubation lasts 24 days and fledging occurs in 50 days. The young birds, simular to the females, may have shorter tails.

The red upper bill makes an amazing contrast to the blue body color. The male has a collar, which appears when the bird is three years old. The plumage of males and females are identical with the exception of the female, which has no collar. The depth of blue coloration, an autosomal recessive mutation, varies little.

[Crittercall]

Becki - I've had some experience with ring-necks (they come in several different colors) but these were breeding birds and not pets. I'm not sure what kind of pet they would make. Compared to the other breeders, they seemed quieter and more "stay to themselves" kind of birds.

They are very pretty, I definately agree with that! You might try www.toolady.com and see if anyone over there has ringnecks or knows more about them. Strictly birds there.

[pammiedrew]

I use to raise them but mine was the green, the blues are much prettier. I like the yellow too. Anyway they make great pets. The female seems to be a little more nasty than the males. They are good talkers and clowns. I loved mine, but got out of them and got into bigger birds. To me they seem to be about the same as a cockatiel. The males are much nicer. I raised several babies and I kept a few as pets. They have different colors and the males are much prettier. They have a darker ring than the females. I enjoyed them alot.

[SomeBunny]

I have an alexandrian Ringneck Parakeet he is a wonderful pet ..has about 50 words to his vocabulary and likes to mimic sounds around the house including the cat meowing dont know what our house would be like with out his voice making it home he is 5 years old and is part of the family .