Kakariki....??? Why?

itchyfeet

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Guys - I'm a New Zealander through and through who has grown up with parrots. On the very rare occasion, I've seen a kakariki in an aviary, usually showcasing native species. Very very rarely (maybe once every 4 years) they maaaay be available on the pet market. Small country, significant biosecurity rules...the pet market ain't that big. I'm not missing them. And yet they keep coming up on the forums!

So what's the go? I'd expect RB2's to be more common in Aussie, Macaws to be more accessible in the states...am I missing a beat here?

Here's the DOC page on the kakariki, for anyone interested...
https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/birds-a-z/nz-parakeet-kakariki/
 

ChristaNL

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Well, NL here (and I am no expert when it comes to fads and such).


Kakariki are handsome, not too obnouxiously loud and rather friendly birds.

Most of us (generalisation of course, but most of us are citydwellers) have not much room (or boatloads of money) - so anything macawsized is out of the question, but something budgy-sized is far more do-able.
Actually we tend to call everthing smaller than a pyrruhra a "parakeet" instead of "parrot".

Oh- easy to breed helps a lot of course, so they are pretty cheap around here.
(We Dutch have the reputation of really loving the low-budget)

So... cheap , easy (to keep as wel as on the eyes) and fun!

I've the impression they are more kept in aviaries than livingrooms though.
(like cockatiels it's probably 70-30 )


==


Like produce everywhere: the stuf that grows best is abundant.
So birds that are easy to breed and keep will "take over" the general market.
 
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EllenD

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Welcome to the forums!

I'm well aware of the what the pet-trade in Australia and New Zealand is like, as in addition to owning and raising parrots, I have also owned, and currently own Bearded Dragons, and belong to a couple of Dragon forums as well that have a lot more members from your area than this one does...They often talk about the laws in your area regarding owning pets, about taking-in wild animals, etc. I know that you guys have to actually have a permit/license to own Reptiles, correct? I don't know if that's true for birds as well, but I assume that it is...

Unfortunately, and I say that wholeheartedly, the US, the UK, most places in Europe, etc. have absolutely ZERO laws about who can and cannot own pets, it's totally unregulated, and literally anyone can walk into any pet shop and buy whatever pets they want to as long as they have the money to pay for the pet...that doesn't mean they have the money to care for them, nor the space to keep them, etc. But that's just how it goes here...So smaller species of parrots/birds in-general are extremely popular in the US, mostly because they are much less expensive than larger parrots...and the Kakariki's are becoming very popular here, along with Rosella's and Lorikeets...They are being bred privately in-captivity here more and more, and hand-raised by the breeders so that they are extremely tame and friendly. So that's the bottom-line to it...I know a few people that have both hand-raised/hand-tamed Kakariki's and Rosella's, and they love them to bits, they interact with them just like you would any other tame, pet parrot.
 
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itchyfeet

itchyfeet

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Nope, no licencing for birds here Ellen, nor for all reptiles. I could come home today with a beardie and no paperwork. You can't just go and grab a pukeko or kiwi, or a possum or native skink from the back yard - they do require paperwork/licencing, but the more general/common fid's & animals are fine.

I guess the thing that strikes me odd about the kakariki (translates literally to green) is that it is so unusual here, and yet it's a native...yet it seems to have a prolific following overseas. Not a bad thing, and given how their described, it does make sense, but I wonder why more people aren't focusing on them here.
 

LordTriggs

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it could be because they're so common in the wild that people don't often keep them

I remember having a Kakariki when younger (was my step-dad's) and he was a lovely little bird, until the rest of the family got bored and ignored him to the point he went a little schizo
 
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itchyfeet

itchyfeet

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That's the thing....they're really not.
And here, you need a permit to breed them...as mentioned above, very very few species require this, macaws, greys, amazons etc. do not.
I'm starting to think Kakariki as they're known here, are somewhat different in species type and name to what you may have over there. Will research further when I get a chance!
 

ChristaNL

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Sunny a female B&G macaw;
Japie (m) & Appie (f), both are congo african grey;
All are rescues- had to leave their previous homes for 'reasons', are still in contact with them :)
Whoa...I never thought about it that way...

African greys are CITES now: so you need a permit to keep one, but indeed...no-one will stop you if you want to breed them.
(you just have to put in on your application if you do not have the forms already)

WEIRD if you stop to think about it

(it's that time of the year that people chuck them <hollidays coming up and non-productive pairs get the boot> so I was quite amazed how many were on MPyesterday < our craighlist> / looking for an aviary myself; no worries, I am not going to!)

Thank you for that one!
(love it when people make me think)
 

ChristaNL

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Parrots
Sunny a female B&G macaw;
Japie (m) & Appie (f), both are congo african grey;
All are rescues- had to leave their previous homes for 'reasons', are still in contact with them :)
sorry about the dutch names as well as the latin; but this is what a quick search got me:


Subspecies are/were:



  • Roodvoorhoofdkakariki groen (Cyanoramphus Novaezelandiae Novaezelandiae)
  • Chatham roodvoorhoofdkakariki (Cyanoramphus Novaezelandiae Chathamensis)
  • Kermadec roodvoorhoofdkakariki (Cyanoramphus Novaezelandiae Cyanurus)
  • Lord Howe roodvoorhoofdkakariki (Cyanoramphus Novaezelandiae Subflavens)
  • Geelvoorhoofdkakariki (Cyanoramphus auriceps)
  • Bruine kakariki (Cyanoramphus Ulietanus)
  • Oranjevoorhoofdkakariki (Cyanoramphus Malherbi)
  • Norfolk-eiland kakariki (Cyanoramphus Cookii)
  • Nieuw-Caledonië roodvoorhoofdkakariki (Cyanoramphus Saisseti)
  • Chatham-eiland geelvoorhoofdkakariki, ook bekend als Forbes parkiet (Cyanoramphus Forbesi)
Only 2 of them are bred here (in all kind of variations, so its hard to find a "natural coloured one" anymore ) it's a rather crappy article, so I'm not sure exactly which ones.


Nice pictures though .... https://voliere-info.nl/kakariki/ ;)
 

EllenD

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Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
Nope, no licencing for birds here Ellen, nor for all reptiles. I could come home today with a beardie and no paperwork. You can't just go and grab a pukeko or kiwi, or a possum or native skink from the back yard - they do require paperwork/licencing, but the more general/common fid's & animals are fine.

I guess the thing that strikes me odd about the kakariki (translates literally to green) is that it is so unusual here, and yet it's a native...yet it seems to have a prolific following overseas. Not a bad thing, and given how their described, it does make sense, but I wonder why more people aren't focusing on them here.


That's odd, because I've spoken to many people from Australia from the Dragon forums that have spoken extensively about how they have to first have a license to be able to even purchase a Dragon...Maybe it's different depending on where you live? I don't know, but it's been a big topic of conversation in the Dragon forum, as there have been people who have just moved to Australia and have found that they can't just go and buy a pet reptile like they can here...
 
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itchyfeet

itchyfeet

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I'm in New Zealand :)
 

ChristaNL

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NL= the Netherlands, Europe
Parrots
Sunny a female B&G macaw;
Japie (m) & Appie (f), both are congo african grey;
All are rescues- had to leave their previous homes for 'reasons', are still in contact with them :)
Yes...you lucky bastard! :)

One of my friends was there for 5 months, and is still not sure het wants to live here (NL) anymore. He loved (loves?) being in you part of the planet so much!
 

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