Queens are about the size of an African
Gray Parrot but not nearly as bulky. The are bright yellow with dark green
primaries. The beak is horn colored and the eyes are a reddish brown. Their
legs and feet are flesh colored. The young as shown in the photograph are
marked with dark green streaks on their cheeks, ear coverts, breast, nape
and the upper side of their tail feathers. As adults their head, beak and
body shape, but not size, is very similar to that of a Hyacinth Macaw.
In fact they look like a little miniature yellow Hyacinth. In the wild they eat fruits, berries,
seeds and nuts normally picked from the tree tops. Queens when seen are
usually in pairs and small groups in lowland rainforests.They are the most
social birds that I have ever seen. My pair are in almost constant body
contact of each other. If they are not preening each other they are side
by side with no space between them. In my opinion these are the birds that
should have been named love birds. They are cavity breeders as are
most other parrots. My pair laid two clutches in 1998 after giving them
a nest box in late 1997, both of which were infertile. The first clutch
consisted of 5 eggs and the second 4 eggs. I have heard of these birds
breeding in captivity at as young as 2 years but I think it is more commonly
at 3 years and up. They are known to be quite prolific once they get started
usually laying 2 to 3 clutches per year. Formerly considered by many aviculturists
to be poor parents I am seeing more and more parent raised birds for sale,
indicating that the opposite is probably true. Many breeders tend to get
nervous (and understandably so) with such rare birds and don't give the
parents a chance. The male became aggressive a few
weeks before the female began to brood, attacking the side of the cage
when I came near. The female then disappeared into the nest box several
days prior to laying the first egg, only coming out to eat for very short
periods of time. I observed the female on video very nervously coming out
to eat and drink only a few times a day, pacing back and forth on
the perch the entire time, while keeping an eye on the nest box opening
. I was as nervous as she, wondering if she was getting proper nutrition.
I don't yet know if it was to her inexperience or not, but she did seem
to visibly loose weight. She sat the eggs so tightly that I could only
see them If I watched her on the video to see her come out of the nest
and ran into the room before she could make it back in. In the morning
after I went in to feed them the male would call to her to let her know
that there was fresh food in the bowl. She would soon appear and come down
briefly to nervously eat. I did not actually observe it but I think he
did go into the nest and feed her periodically.
