Video Transcript

Hi, I’m Dr. Laurie Hess, Director of Pet Health and Nutrition, and this is my parrot, Elmo. He is a caique. Caique is often mispronounced. It’s spelled c-a-i-q-u-e. Some people say “cake”, I say “caique”.

Caiques are great for families and they are lots of fun because they are comics. They are the clowns of the bird world. He loves to be the center of attention. They often don’t love to live with other birds because they need to have all of your attention all the time. They can be a little squawky sometimes when they don’t get your attention, but they are really, really fun. They love to do tricks. They hang upside down in ways that I just can’t even explain. They like to roll around in your hand. I was going to try that for you right now but he’s very happy right there. They live a long time. They can live close to thirty years, and they’re really, really good for families.

So if you want a really fun-loving, easygoing, kind of crazy, comical bird, caique, just like Elmo, is probably right for you.