Wondering if he's an ARN instead?

I've had Bo nearly six months now and since becoming tame, he seems to act more like the typical descriptions of the African Ringneck or the Abyssinian Ringneck than the IRN:

He's non-vocal most of the day interspersed with three or four chatty periods of inoffensive vocalisations; enjoys showering with me, is affectionate, is gentle (allowing for the trial and error involved in learning the sensitivity level of different parts of a human), and has not been aggressive towards me since he lost his fear, giving fair warning before nips and applying progressively more pressure in proportion to how much I ignore the first nips (in those situations where he respecting his wishes is not an option as the thing he's complaining about just needs to be done). The only trait I've noticed that's more typical of the IRNs among the different ringneck subspecies, is that he'll eat anything.

I don't have much faith in the information given by the pet shop that sold him to his first home, like subspecies. I don't mean that they've been deliberately deceptive, just that it seems plausible from their internal communication and record-keeping issues that they could believe they sold IRNs last year when they actually sold ARNs.

I suppose if I want to be certain I'll have to take him to a vet for testing but I don't want distress him with a vet visit unless really necessary, so in the meantime I'm wondering what all you other ringneck parents think about his likely subspecies given his appearance in these videos and what I've described.

I want to show him from a few different angles doing different things in different light conditions but YouTube isn't processing one of the videos so I can only post these two for now. It's amazing how many different sizes and hues the same bird can appear to be on camera. For scale, I'm 5"1 and my hands are the size of most 7 year olds' hands. Please pardon the baby talk, I can't help it around him.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHBtoSGDnHY"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHBtoSGDnHY[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm8RfqmZ73w"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm8RfqmZ73w[/ame]

I think he looks like an IRN, from beak colour and tail length anyway. Unless he's in the middle of a molt and his tail is usually much longer? His colour does look a bit more muted than an IRN though. I guess he could be a hybrid, or he's just a lovely gentle IRN and you are the perfect match for each other!

Jottlebot said:

I think he looks like an IRN, from beak colour and tail length anyway. Unless he's in the middle of a molt and his tail is usually much longer? His colour does look a bit more muted than an IRN though. I guess he could be a hybrid, or he's just a lovely gentle IRN and you are the perfect match for each other!

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I should have mentioned that when he was sold to his first home, his tail feathers were very short due to some kind of damage. The pet shop owner speculated he could have been picked on by siblings, as the other birds' tails were fine. They seem to have grown especially rapidly in the last two weeks, so much that they might be visibly longer in the second video which was filmed today, a few days after the first one. So it's too early to know how long the tail will end up. It would be nice if it stopped where it is now or he's going to outgrow his cage soon! Also should have mentioned his age, he's either about 16 months old or about 21 months old, the pet shop isn't sure which specific clutch he would have come from. Do you know how much body growth ringnecks typically have left to do at that age?

Nope, he’s an IRN [emoji4]

ARNs are MUCH smaller and have different coloring even before maturing. It’s hard to really describe all the subtle differences, but after you see them both in person it’s easy to tell them apart [emoji4]

It’s hard to tell in the lighting but I think you MIGHT have a dark factor green or violet green. I’ve added some collages of my own birds that might help there, since you obviously see him in all sorts of lighting.


A WELL RAISED IRN isn’t aggressive at all, and my flock of 40+ is quiet 90% of the day. I think the differences you are describing have more to do with mental health than species

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Looks like IRN to me.


I have an ARN. She seems to be the same size as an IRN to me. She's also a *great* eater! As per info I have received, she's a wild caught bird, so she's not friendly at all. Her beak is very dark, too.

Update on the water-loving: he either loves his showers with me or wants nothing to do with them, which I think might be because sometimes when I take him in there he's had one too recently and too much oil would be stripped from his feathers if he had another one. Could it be that IRNs have a reputation for not liking to bathe just because people try to wash them too frequently?

SilverSage said:

It’s hard to tell in the lighting but I think you MIGHT have a dark factor green or violet green. I’ve added some collages of my own birds that might help there, since you obviously see him in all sorts of lighting.

Click to expand...

I think he's either a wild type or darker green or violet green, too. In some lighting he looks just like the regular wild type colour except for his obvious blue feathers in the middle of his tail. In the several mutation examples I've found online it looks like the wild type don't have the blue streak, but does that just depend on the individual bird?

MonicaMc said:

I have an ARN. She seems to be the same size as an IRN to me. She's also a *great* eater! As per info I have received, she's a wild caught bird, so she's not friendly at all. Her beak is very dark, too.

Click to expand...

She has the same kind of eyes as juvenile IRNs. Is she a juvenile ARN, or do ARNs never start showing the whites of their eyes like IRNs do?

Some birds enjoy bathing 2-3 times a day, so it's not really possible that he's had "too many" bathes... but maybe he just doesn't like it all that often?


Wild IRN do have long blue tail feathers. This gallery includes some great photos!

https://www.parrots.org/photo-gallery/ringneck-parakeet


As far as ARN's eyes go... they are yellow or amber, not white. You can see her irises in each photo, but it's clearer in the second. I've had her for 4 years and her eyes have never changed in coloration. Juvenile IRN's have pure black eyes - the irises haven't lightened in color.

I've had other people comment about her looking like a juvenile IRN as well, but I think they fail to see that her iris are in fact amber and mistake her for a young bird. However, in every single picture I've taken, her beak is dark red. No ifs, ands or buts about it. Baby IRN's have bright orange beaks that later darken to red/black... (as a general rule of thumb)

Aspie_Aviphile said:

Update on the water-loving: he either loves his showers with me or wants nothing to do with them, which I think might be because sometimes when I take him in there he's had one too recently and too much oil would be stripped from his feathers if he had another one. Could it be that IRNs have a reputation for not liking to bathe just because people try to wash them too frequently?

SilverSage said:

It’s hard to tell in the lighting but I think you MIGHT have a dark factor green or violet green. I’ve added some collages of my own birds that might help there, since you obviously see him in all sorts of lighting.

Click to expand...

I think he's either a wild type or darker green or violet green, too. In some lighting he looks just like the regular wild type colour except for his obvious blue feathers in the middle of his tail. In the several mutation examples I've found online it looks like the wild type don't have the blue streak, but does that just depend on the individual bird?

MonicaMc said:

I have an ARN. She seems to be the same size as an IRN to me. She's also a *great* eater! As per info I have received, she's a wild caught bird, so she's not friendly at all. Her beak is very dark, too.

Click to expand...

She has the same kind of eyes as juvenile IRNs. Is she a juvenile ARN, or do ARNs never start showing the whites of their eyes like IRNs do?

Click to expand...

Can you get a picture of the back including tail and flights in natural lighting?


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SilverSage said:

Can you get a picture of the back including tail and flights in natural lighting?

Click to expand...

Here you go.

Might just be me but the pictures didn't come through?

Sorry about that, let me try again:

Aspie_Aviphile said:

Sorry about that, let me try again:

Click to expand...

Perfect! The “violet” I thought I was seeing was a trick of the light. Such a pretty green fid!


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In my experience, the only trustworthy cDoan rison (lacking AV commentary) comes down to the beak in comparison to bird size.
Small and brown/maroon = African
Large and orange/red = Indian
Either beak has black depending on age.
Going by tail length can be deceiving. Going by eyes and pinning can be deceiving. Demeanor depends completely on the bird.