Psittacula Krameri Manillensis
Indian
Ringnecks (IRs) are the natives of India and Pakistan. They are originally of
green color and afterwards many mutations have developed in captivity as well as
in wild. Every year, when the hunters catch the wild parrots in India and
Pakistan, they come across mutations like dark green and pied .
Indian Ringnecks (IRs) are favorite
tame birds for Pakistani people as they can easily learn to talk. They are very lovable
pets and are available from market at a very very low price i.e. half a
dollar!!!
Mutations
The original or normal Indian Ringneck
is green colored and is available in India and Pakistan in wild, easily. There are, however
many color mutations, which add much color and attraction to them. I have briefly
described some of these mutations and still the list is incomplete!
Dark Green
Dark green Ringnecks have single dark
green factor. They have been found in wild and I myself have seen them caught
from wild. They are same as normal greens, just with a darker shade of green.
Lutino
These are sex-linked recessive and are completely
yellow but males do have the black ring around the neck line. They have red eyes
and light colored feet and nails.
Blue
These are recessive type. They have a
blue body but the cocks have black ring around the neck with white shadow. The
feet are grey and eyes are black.
Grey
Grays are dominant in the blue series
of Ringnecks. They have black eyes with yellow iris. The feet are grey.
Albino
These are members of "Ino"
family and have red eyes and light colored feet and nails. They are actually
combination of Blue and Ino.
Olive
Olives have double dark factor. They
can never be confused with dark green or grey green. The main feature of the
olives is the tinge of blue in the tails. They have black iris and grey feet.
Grey Green
It is mixture of grey and green and
results form pairing of grey with green Ringnecks. Most people confuse grey
green with olive which is wrong. the grey green is actually a dominant type and
it doesn't have a double dark green factor like olives. The main difference is
that unlike olives the grey-green has blackish sort of tail without any shade of
blue in it.
Turquoise or Pastel
Previously called Pastel is dominant in
blue series of Ringnecks. They may be of blue, grey or white color with shades
of pale green, pale grey or yellow on the wings, respectively.
Pallid or Lacewing
They are sex-linked recessive with
white heads and body is washed with light color. Tail is lighter in color. Eyes
are dark red and feet are light grey.
Pied
Pieds can be dominant or recessive.
They are also seen in wild in Pakistan. I have a pair which was caught from
wild. Dominant Pieds have grey feet and grey nails. The eyes are also black.
The recessive Pieds have lighter feet
and dark red eyes and the neck ring is not visible in cocks.
Clear Tail or Whitehead-Whitetail or
Yellowhead-Yellow
New name is cleartail. The head may be
white or yellow. The feet are light colored and eyes are black with yellow iris.
These are Autosomal recessive type.
Clearhead or Yellowhead or Buttercup
This type is Autosomal recessive too
and has red eyes. It was formerly known as Yellowhead or buttercup. as its head
is yellow or white in case of whitehead.
Cobalt
It has single dark factor. Body has a
darker shade of blue. It is combination of single dark factor and blue. Eyes are
black with yellow iris.
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is sex-linked recessive. It
has an overall wash of light brown. Eyes are dark red with yellow iris.
Mauve
It has a double dark factor as it is
combination of blue and double dark factor. Eyes are black with yellow iris.
Dilute or Diffused or Black-Eyed
It has a splash of a single color
all over the body only very light in color. Eyes are black.
Sexing IRs
Indian Ringnecks have a very prominent feature that
distinguishes them into male and female. A grown up male has a black Ringneck
with a slightly pink shadow and a manly flat big head size.
The females, however, never develop this ring but
may have a very light grey ring on the neck which can be of no problem.
Breeding
In Pakistan, the breeding season Indian
Ringnecks start from December to May.
Indian Ringnecks are very easy breeders
and find no problem ion getting settled with a new mate. They don't get
disturbed easily and don't care about almost anything. If they get settled in
your cages, you will have an endless breed of Indian Ringnecks in your
hands.
They do not breed freely in colony so
to get a good breed, always let them breed in pairs. They are aggressive towards
other pairs so care should be taken while introducing a new neighbor.
The female lays 5 to 7 eggs in a
clutch. If she is laying eggs for the first time then the eggs may be 2 or 3. In
this case do not worry as next time she will lays a good number of eggs. The
incubation takes 21 days starting from the day when the hen starts to incubate
the eggs properly.
The female may leave the eggs for
several hours when temperature is a little bit high. Don't worry about it.
Nothing will happen to the eggs, as the normal temperature is also working as an
incubation factor.
Baby IRs
 Indian Ringnecks can raise up to 6 to 7
babies in one clutch untiringly. The babies are although very small and fleshy
but grow up pretty fast. IRs seldom let their babies die, but still for various other
reasons, the boxes should be checked frequently.
The babies are easy to get on a hand feed
too and don't give any trouble at all.
The people who need to tame Ringnecks or train them to talk like to buy
IRs of 4 to 5 weeks of age.
IRs Diet
Diet comprises of various seeds and
lots and lots of fruits and vegetables. IRs eat almost everything. If they are
tame, they may love to drink coffee or tea or may like ice cream or any cooked
thing that you eat in your dinner or lunch.
They like bread, biscuits, green
chillies, apples, peanuts and so many things so you don't have to worry about what
to give and what not to give!
IRs Health
Ringnecks don't fall for disease so
easily and wont give you much trouble as long as you keep them well fed and
happy.
The general things like cleanliness,
change of water everyday, balanced diet, stress free atmosphere, vitamin and calcium supply are, however,
applicable for Indian Ringnecks too.
  
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