Aratinga Parakeet?

Aandeg

New member
Oct 16, 2014
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Wisconsin and Minnesota
Parrots
Quaker-Niimi

Budgie-SweeDee
I just met one of these birds yesterday. I think he is an Aratinga but not completely sure. He was very friendly but nibbled my fingers a lot, not sure if that was aggression or playfulness. He never bit hard.

Beautiful little bird, smaller than my quaker but bigger than a budgie, mostly green with dark spots and bright yellow rings around the eyes. His eyes were his most striking feature. They were crazy eyes! The irises opened and closed a lot. It was kinda spooky.

Does anyone have one of these little guys? Can you tell me more about them? Are they available in the USA? Expensive?

He was in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. I saw a lot of birds down there. Some very nice and some rather neglected and poorly socialized. :(
 

RavensGryf

Supporting Member
Jan 19, 2014
14,233
190
College Station, Texas
Parrots
Red Bellied Parrot /
Ruppell's Parrot /
Bronze Winged Pionus /
English Budgie
Aratinga is the genus name. It is a conure. Some popular Aratinga conures are Suns and Jendays.

Sounds like you "might" be describing a Half Moon (or Petz or Orange Fronted) but most commonly called Half Moon. Orange-fronted parakeet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Part of their natural range is in Mexico.

If this is the one, you're talking about, yes they're definitely available in the US. While not real common, they're not very expensive either. A couple hundred from a breeder maybe.
 
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Aandeg

New member
Oct 16, 2014
64
0
Wisconsin and Minnesota
Parrots
Quaker-Niimi

Budgie-SweeDee
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Yeah that's very similar. The one I saw had less pronounced orange on the face. Otherwise the same. Maybe a juvenile? I was looking for wild parrots down there but only saw caged ones. This guy was one of the ones very well taken care of. The owner really loved his birds.
 

RavensGryf

Supporting Member
Jan 19, 2014
14,233
190
College Station, Texas
Parrots
Red Bellied Parrot /
Ruppell's Parrot /
Bronze Winged Pionus /
English Budgie
Juveniles will have less orange. Some adults are that way too.

I think Half Moons are gorgeous. I love the yellow eye skin with the orange and turquoise of the head.

The first time I saw some was when I got my first parrot (Cockatiel) from a breeder I found in the local paper in the days before the internet lol. They were asking $150 then for the Half Moons in the early 1990's. I only had $50 with me to buy my tiel, or else I would have wanted one of those instead!
 

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