Vasa parrots

[OrnithAudrey]

Ran into yet another bird I've never met before. Another parrot store here had a Vasa for sale. Pretty neat bird. Definitely unusual. What little I know about them is they have short incubation periods and odd reproductive traits/habits. The owner said they're extremely intelligent. Has anyone ever had one or known anybody with one?

 

[takatoo]

I've met them before. They're pretty weird birds, certainly not for a beginner. Pretty friendly, though rather loud.

 

[chris-md]

Long penii, bald heads. That's all I know.

 

[Piasa]

I had a female Vasa parrot for about 4 years. She was very curious and independent, a great talker. Big food flinger!

 

[Birdman666]

They only go bald during breeding season and it's only the females...

Vasa Parrot Facts- Feather Tree

I have a very interesting VASA story as a matter of fact. When I lived in NORCAL... It was a very odd situation, but a family of crows showed up in my tree, and one of the "crows" started talking to me...

Well, of course I talked back...

And on closer inspection it was a VASA... well, those puppies are RARE... SO I KNEW IMMEDIATELY THIS WAS A LOST PET... so I tried to keep it's interest, and tried to bribe it down with a cage and food bowls. It did the flippy flappy thing, and thought about it, but didn't fly down....

So I climbed the tree...

Got to within a few branches of the bird, but the crows spooked and flew off, and when "the flock" left she went with them...

So I immediately posted on the old ParroTalk site, and within a few hours had an answer from someone who was missing a Vasa... (yeah, there were like a grand total of, like, six of them in California... so... )

Turns out this was an escaped breeder, and she had a mate. She had hooked up with a flock of fairly similar looking crows, and was following them around everywhere they went. Bottom line, the lady brought the mate over to my place for a couple of weeks, hoping that the mate would attract her back...

The flock never reappeared in my yard, but I did get to play with a vasa for two weeks. Very interesting personalities...

Very playful birds.

 

[Piasa]

Dug up some juvie photos of Anka, my greater vasa. So incredibly beautiful.

 

[OrnithAudrey]

Dug up some juvie photos of Anka, my greater vasa. So incredibly beautiful.

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Awesome pictures! Thanks for sharing! The weird/oddball birds always intrigue me, so I love looking/meeting/hearing about them.

 

[OrnithAudrey]

They only go bald during breeding season and it's only the females...

Vasa Parrot Facts- Feather Tree

I have a very interesting VASA story as a matter of fact. When I lived in NORCAL... It was a very odd situation, but a family of crows showed up in my tree, and one of the "crows" started talking to me...

Well, of course I talked back...

And on closer inspection it was a VASA... well, those puppies are RARE... SO I KNEW IMMEDIATELY THIS WAS A LOST PET... so I tried to keep it's interest, and tried to bribe it down with a cage and food bowls. It did the flippy flappy thing, and thought about it, but didn't fly down....

So I climbed the tree...

Got to within a few branches of the bird, but the crows spooked and flew off, and when "the flock" left she went with them...

So I immediately posted on the old ParroTalk site, and within a few hours had an answer from someone who was missing a Vasa... (yeah, there were like a grand total of, like, six of them in California... so... )

Turns out this was an escaped breeder, and she had a mate. She had hooked up with a flock of fairly similar looking crows, and was following them around everywhere they went. Bottom line, the lady brought the mate over to my place for a couple of weeks, hoping that the mate would attract her back...

The flock never reappeared in my yard, but I did get to play with a vasa for two weeks. Very interesting personalities...

Very playful birds.

LOL you always have the most ridiculous, off the wall bird stories. I love it. I'm curious, are there any parrot species (at least occasionally kept in the pet trade) you have never met/had an encounter with? I say that with envy because, while I've been fortunate to meet/work with many uncommon species, I'm always looking to meet more. That's why this week has been exciting for me. A Patty, a Vasa. The blue-headed macs that are still for sale where the Patty is. Let's see if I can meet a Spix's by the end of the week

 

[RavensGryf]

I do see them at Omar's from time to time. I knew a girl who had one, and my old Ekkie's breeder raises them. I personally didn't care for the fact that the male has external genitalia and the female goes bald during breeding season , but the color is pretty in person with the light bluish sheen.

There is the lesser and a greater. I forget which one is seen more as a pet.

 

[Brittany741]

They are gorgeous. I was told by a local rescue they require housing more along the lines of a hawk? Either way, I would love to have one.

 

[Piasa]

I had Anka in a macaw cage, then had her live free in the house for awhile. She got a little neurotic (scared of strange things) being free all the time and did better when she was back in the cage and out for visits. Her final set up was with the macaw cage inside and outdoor aviary. She loved to fly, especially anything tricky in flight.

Their skin also changes color with their mood (grey to pink) and breeding season (bright yellow!) - everything changes - their cere, beak, feet, eye rings. Anka didn't go full on bald, but rather more like a tonsure. I have a photo somewhere..

Greater vasas are the more predominant ones in the pet trade. The National Aviary in Pittsburgh had 5 lesser vasas for awhile and they were fantastically acrobatic! I believe they were traded to a zoo somewhere in Ohio, but I can't remember where. I met someone who worked with them and got them to use a nestbox - they hadn't wanted to use any until they tried an octagon.

They're one of the few birds that are polyandrous - pretty cool! And so they don't get aggressive with people due to breeding season hormones.

 

[OrnithAudrey]

I do see them at Omar's from time to time. I knew a girl who had one, and my old Ekkie's breeder raises them. I personally didn't care for the fact that the male has external genitalia and the female goes bald during breeding season , but the color is pretty in person with the light bluish sheen.

There is the lesser and a greater. I forget which one is seen more as a pet.

Haha yeah, I can see how those characteristics could be a bit off-putting! I'm not sure if the one I met was lesser or greater. Wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

 

[OrnithAudrey]

I had Anka in a macaw cage, then had her live free in the house for awhile. She got a little neurotic (scared of strange things) being free all the time and did better when she was back in the cage and out for visits. Her final set up was with the macaw cage inside and outdoor aviary. She loved to fly, especially anything tricky in flight.

Their skin also changes color with their mood (grey to pink) and breeding season (bright yellow!) - everything changes - their cere, beak, feet, eye rings. Anka didn't go full on bald, but rather more like a tonsure. I have a photo somewhere..

Greater vasas are the more predominant ones in the pet trade. The National Aviary in Pittsburgh had 5 lesser vasas for awhile and they were fantastically acrobatic! I believe they were traded to a zoo somewhere in Ohio, but I can't remember where. I met someone who worked with them and got them to use a nestbox - they hadn't wanted to use any until they tried an octagon.

They're one of the few birds that are polyandrous - pretty cool! And so they don't get aggressive with people due to breeding season hormones.

Interesting! I knew about their reproductive habits, but that's where my knowledge ends. I wouldn't have guessed they were such skilled acrobats.

 

[Birdman666]

The one that stayed with me for two weeks was a skilled flyer, and an acrobird that was on par with an amazon. He was as skilled and goofy as my zons...

The thing you have a problem with if you get these guys, if it's a female, and it's breeding season, they tend to stop eating, and expect a male to feed them... The females are prone to "hunger strikes" during mating season.

Solitary females are often hand fed with a syringe, or a bent spoon. Warm oatmeal and baby bird formula.

Pretty demanding when they're bald and yellow...

Kinda makes a vulture look attractive.

 

[OrnithAudrey]

The one that stayed with me for two weeks was a skilled flyer, and an acrobird that was on par with an amazon. He was as skilled and goofy as my zons...

The thing you have a problem with if you get these guys, if it's a female, and it's breeding season, they tend to stop eating, and expect a male to feed them... The females are prone to "hunger strikes" during mating season.

Solitary females are often hand fed with a syringe, or a bent spoon. Warm oatmeal and baby bird formula.

Pretty demanding when they're bald and yellow...

Kinda makes a vulture look attractive.

I would think you'd have more of a problem with the males...I mean, if a male conure had his way with your ear, imagine the fun a male Vasa could have!

 

[Brittany741]

The one that stayed with me for two weeks was a skilled flyer, and an acrobird that was on par with an amazon. He was as skilled and goofy as my zons...



The thing you have a problem with if you get these guys, if it's a female, and it's breeding season, they tend to stop eating, and expect a male to feed them... The females are prone to "hunger strikes" during mating season.



Solitary females are often hand fed with a syringe, or a bent spoon. Warm oatmeal and baby bird formula.



Pretty demanding when they're bald and yellow...



Kinda makes a vulture look attractive.

I would think you'd have more of a problem with the males...I mean, if a male conure had his way with your ear, imagine the fun a male Vasa could have!

As if having 4 horny male dogs around here wasn't enough. I am already outnumbered!

 

[Jayyj]

I was fascinated by these when I was first researching birds a few years back - until Alice came up and proved to be in need of a good home. The bald thing doesn't bother me, but then I have a soft spot for vultures as well. There was a tv documentary a couple of years back where a guy had a griffon vulture that had imprinted on him and it seemed like it would make a great pet, as long as you don't mind leaving the odd decaying wildebeest in the back garden...

Er, anyway, back to vasa parrots, there are a couple of breeders in the UK but the only ones I've ever seen were at San Francisco zoo, who have a pair of lesser vasas in a large walk in aviary. I got a photo of one of them:

 

[wrench13]

Don't mean to offend anyone, but to me they look rather like sooty grey pigeons. We got 1000's of those in NYC. Perhaps in person....?