Betrisher
Well-known member
- Jun 3, 2013
- 4,253
- 177
- Parrots
- Dominic: Galah(RIP: 1981-2018); The Lovies: Four Blue Masked Lovebirds; Barney and Madge (The Beaks): Alexandrines; Miss Rosetta Stone: Little Corella
I know my Barney and Madge are not as large as most Alexandrines, but I don't know whether that's because of their nutrition, age or breeding. They're about sixteen and eighteen months old respectively now, so would they have reached their full adult size? Or will that not be achieved until sexual maturity around three years?
I've read descriptions of the four/five subspecies till I'm blue in the face and I'm afraid I simply can't compute the differences, except that the Nepalese subspecies is the biggest and the Laotian is the smallest. My pair has the red shoulder patch and massive beak, so I don't think they're hybrids (with IRN). If they were, how would I tell? They certainly don't sound like IRNs (which seem far more high-pitched in their call than the Beaks are). Since I've been wondering all this, I've been trying to measure them. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to approach a flighted bird with a tape measure? LOLOL! That didn't work. My best guesstimate is about 50cm. I'd be interested to hear how long other people's Alexes are just for comparison.
I've read descriptions of the four/five subspecies till I'm blue in the face and I'm afraid I simply can't compute the differences, except that the Nepalese subspecies is the biggest and the Laotian is the smallest. My pair has the red shoulder patch and massive beak, so I don't think they're hybrids (with IRN). If they were, how would I tell? They certainly don't sound like IRNs (which seem far more high-pitched in their call than the Beaks are). Since I've been wondering all this, I've been trying to measure them. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to approach a flighted bird with a tape measure? LOLOL! That didn't work. My best guesstimate is about 50cm. I'd be interested to hear how long other people's Alexes are just for comparison.