Parrots and Toucans

See the Senegal Parrots just love company and really don’t want to be left alone, so please leave your radio on or some music, so they don’t feel lonely.

They also have a habit of stalking a person if you leave them on the floor, mine just loves my shoes, I have had some chomped up leather sandals. It is the animal instinct to protect their territory.

The Senegal Parrot has the mentality of a 4 or 5 year old child, can be jealous, they are not allowed chocolate or avocado, it can be deadly. My parrot just loves to eat what I am eating so I do need to watch what I am eating. They absolutely should have been Italian, as they do love pasta of course with some sauce on, spaghetti being the favorite. Mine loves anything egg related, boiled eggs or omelet. He absolutely loves grapes, sucking the inside out, pawpaw, mangos, and pears apples, guavas. My Senegal also loves sweet potato and fried chips.

My Senegal parrot has his favorite toys as well, especially the ones with flavored wooden bananas on, loves empty egg boxes to chew, wooden pegs. He also loves to bash his bells on his toys back and forth to get attention, other than when he starts to whistle or call. Amazing how his vocabulary increases if you leave him alone, the things he tries to get your attention.

I have a wicker basket that my parrot just loves, he discovered himself and now treats it like his traveling cage; of course he chews it to bits, other than his traveling case.

The Senegal parrot needs a lot of attention, but they will go inside if they want to. They are a real pleasure to have as a pet; I love mine as he is.

I have always had a fascination for parrots, especially the Toucan, though not so practical to have as a pet. For some unknown reason I am drawn to Toucans.

I myself have an adorable 6-year old Senegal Parrot, who is a pleasure but can be equally annoying and demanding. I have suffered a couple of nasty bites as he passed the lovely age of 3 I thought it was only kids that went through the terrible three.

Toucans, Toucanets and Aracaris are from the bird family of Ramphastidae that hail from Southern Mexico, Central, South America and Caribbean region. They have colorful markings with large bills that are colored as well. There are about 40 different species and the name derives from the Portuguese “tucana”.

The Toucan can range from 1.5lb and 29 inches, with short bodies and compact. The neck is short and thick with wings that are small like other forest-dwelling birds that need to travel only short distances. The legs of the toucan are short and strong with toes arranged in pairs and the first and fourth toes facing backward. The bills of female toucans are shorter and sometimes straighter compared to the male.

The smaller toucans the aracaris undersides are yellow, with one or more black or red bands across. Toucanets have green plumage with blue markings.

The huge colorful bill, which can in some cases measure even more that half the length of the actual body, which is the distinctive feature of all toucans. It is actually not that heavy as it is made up of bone struts filled with spongy tissue. Inside the bill there is something that almost resembles teeth, which they use for eating fruit, though previously thought that they might be carnivorous. They can reach quite far with that huge beak or bill, even in to nests of smaller birds. The tongue of the toucan is long narrow, grey frayed on the sides adding to their sense of taste.

With the toucan the tail vertebrae are fused and attached to the spine with a ball and socket joint, they can snap their tails forward to touch their head. They sleep in this posture with the tip of the tails sticking over the head.

Toucans lay from 2-4 eggs in their nests, which are normally tree hollows, when hatched the babies have no down on them. Toucans come in pairs or in small flocks. They also mainly eat fruit but will eat insects and small lizards, especially if kept in cages. They also have the habit of when eating a small fruit of throwing the head back allowing the fruit to roll to the back of their throat before swallowing it.