aviary  Jakovljeviæ
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BAUER' S PARROT
Barnardius Zonarius Semit

From all species of genus Bernardius (Australian ringneck, Cloncurry, and Port Lincoln parrot) the most amazing is Bauer's parrot, also known as a Twety-eight parrot. Their size and variouse bright contrasted colors makes them a honorary member of this genus. They come from Australia, as all other species of the Bernardius, and they are nativ to central and west parts of Australia.
He has a tail 17 to 21cm long, that is half of his body size which is between 37 and 40 cm. The head is dim black, while the neck and earcoverts are violet blue. Some of these birds have thin red stripe above the beak. Around the neck there is extensive yellow ring. There is one more yellow ring on the breasts and it is their characteristic. Back is green. Wings, 17 to 19 cm length, are also green with dark blue coverts. Tail feathers are dark blue and a bit wider.

In the wild, there are two subspecies of this parrot, yellow-bellied Bauer's parrot that lives in the region of Melbourne , and green-bellied Bauer's parrot, that lives in region of Sidney . Bauer's parrot's legs are grey with powerful black claws. It has black powerful beak. There are blue and yellow mutations of Bauer's parrot. Female is a bit smaller than male, and some females have brownish black head.

As all other Bernardius species, Bauer's parrot's song is pleasant, off course when it's not mating period. They are gentle natured and very intelligent, and that is why they are so special over all other Bernrdius species. They are easy to tame and can learn to imitate various tones, melodies and words.

This species is not popular, even tough it should be for its great colorings. The reasons for disregarding are that this is not a common bred bird in voliers, or even common kept bird in most of the big zoos. Breeders should know that this beautiful parrot requires devoting, knowledge and patient, especially in breeding and feeding youngsters.

In the wild, they make nests in trunks of tree acacia, where female lays 2 to 4 white eggs on which she sits up to four weeks. After hatching, for the first six weeks chicks stay in the nest. After that period, it comes a period of two months. In that time they learn how to fly, climb and eat on their own. When learning period pasts, they start their own independent lives and make new flocks. Two years after leaving the nest, these birds become sexually mature, and form new couples.

Domesticated parrots should be feed with usual seedish food for big parrots. That is proso, oat, protein seed, sunflower, sorghum, hemp, maze and corn. They are very fond of grinded nuts and hazelnuts. Fruit and vegetables are also their favorite food. Always have in mind that this is big parrot that uses legs when eating, so serve them peaces big enough. Off course, don't forget about minerals and vitamins, my advice is to use preparation made by world's known manufactures like ''Quiko'', ''Vitacraft'' ( Germany ) and ''Vitamineral'' ( Belgium ).

nandaya (on the left), Bauer's parrot (in the middle),
 

If you decide getting one of these great parrots make sure you can provide it roomy cage, so that it can have enough free space for everydays activites. After one month you can open his cage, one moth should be enough for your new pet to addapt on the new enviroment. They are very friendly so you can't make a mistake if choose this fellow.

Remember: not popular doesn't mean they don' diserve to be held as a pets. Belive me, they are one of the most representative fetherly pets in the whole bright world.