Moon's Graden

I may know my 'toos, but I am the first to admit I am Pionus
ignorant. I have heard they are relatively quiet, gentle and
make nice pets. True?

Also, what is a realistic price range for these fellows?

Gaby (No, I'm not getting another bird! I need this info for
a new bird friend!)

--

Mee too!  In my case, I am plotting the possibility of getting a Pionus
in the next year or so (for my SO... or so I claim).  I would love stories
and comments from people who have Pionus; right now we haven't decided
on any one species, but we both like the blue-headed (we also like dark
beaks :)  In particular, I would LOVE to hear from anyone who has both
a Pionus and a senegal.  How do they compare in terms of activity level
and attitude?  I have a senegal, so we know what *those* are like!

In terms of info, I would like to hear about attitude/general activity level,
price ranges [ooops, is there a Pionus FAQ??] and breeders in the Atlanta, GA
area (since that's where we will be starting next summer).

--
 ////////// //////  //     \\\ ~                    //////////////////

 ///// \"."/      \_//     ///                    ////////////////////
///////////////////////////  Poicephalus rule!!!!   /////////////////

I have a male blue-headed Pionus (almost 3 years old).  Other than the fact that he
is extremely territorial and VERY *** (both our fault, not his), he is a great
pet.  He is definitely not a screamer... most of the time he is very quiet.  Every
once in awhile, he will get into a "fight" with his toys and then he does some
vocalizing- but nothing unbearable.  We learned a little too late about establishing
rules with him, therefore he is prone to being very agressive.  We are working to
correct this however.  On the other hand, when the mood strikes, he can be very
gentle.  He is pretty active compared to other parrots I know.  He loves his toys and
plays a lot.  He has a pretty good vocabulary for a Pionus (from what I've heard about
their talking ability).  I would say overall he is very intelligent (or course!),
playful, funny, and loves attention.  We paid $500 for him.  I have seen the same
breeder selling males for $400, and have seen females through various sources
selling for as high as $800.  
Carin

In the Chigago area, I have seen the price range from $475 to over $600.

My experience is with a Maxi Pionus.  Sammy is now a little over 10
months old and I love him dearly.  When I was first looking for
Pionus, I was at first thinking of a Blue Headed, but somewhere
decided to get a Maxi instead (they have dark beaks also Cathy!!!)

I have included a rating form I made up when I was trying to decide
what kind of a bird would fit my life style.  I have added some
descriptions at the bottom to give you an idea why I decided to give
the rating I did.  If you have any other questions I will try to give
an answer.

                            Pionus Rating

                             CUDDLE FACTOR
My name is Bird
I don't go anywhere...
I don't do anything...
I don't have any fun...                                Cuddle Birdy!!

            1..................X....5.....................10
=======================================================================

                                  NOISE
     747 at takeoff                                    Owl in flight

            1.......................5..............X......10
=======================================================================
                                  TALKING
                                                  Recite Dictionary
          Mute                                        from memory

            1............X..........5.....................10
=======================================================================

                              POTTY TRAINING
  Fowl Weather gear advised                        Sphincter Muscles
                                                        of IRON

            1.......................5X....................10
=======================================================================

                                  DUST
  Dust Storms from the
    Great Depression                               ATTRACTS DUST!!!!

            1..................X....5.....................10
=======================================================================

                             ACTIVITY LEVEL
       Perch Potato                               Would like to enter
                                                    Iron Man contest

            1.......................5.X...................10
=======================================================================

                                OUTGOING
    Can hide behind a stick                     Alternate host of
    if someone new is seen                        "Tonight" show

            1.......................5........X............10
=======================================================================

                             HUMAN ATTENTION
                                REQUIRED
      Doppelganger[1]                             Can amuse self for
                                                 long periods of time

            1.......................5.........X...........10
=======================================================================

                                 CHEWING
   Who needs a chain saw?                         Slurps food through
                                                       a straw

            1.......................5..........X..........10

[1]
[G doppelga^:nger, fr. doppel- double + -ga^:nger goer]
(1830)
:a ghostly counterpart of a living person; broadly: DOUBLE 2

CUDDLE FACTOR
Pionus are not cuddle birds!  They are very friendly, but do not enjoy
close physical contact over their bodies.  However, Sammy just LOVES
to perch on my arm in the evening and mellow out while I read or watch
a little TV.

I have worked with Sammy and have him trained to the point where I can
pick him up and hold him around his body in almost any position.  He
doesn't struggle (much) when I do this.  This is in preparation for
perhaps visiting a school and using Sammy as a pointer on a map.....

NOISE
Quiet as advertised.  The loudest Sammy ever gets is in the morning
when he can hear me up and about in the bathroom.

TALKING
Said to talk in a "high squeaky" voice.  Sammy doesn't talk yet.  He
does wolf whistle and "ring" like my phone.

POTTY TRAINING
Not yet.  But I have seen a white cap that was very well potty trained.

DUST
Not NEARLY as bad as a 'tiel.  On the other hand, do you know how to
spell "bird"?   P. I. G. :) :) :)

ACTIVITY LEVEL
Mostly bursts of activity in between periods of inactivity.  Sammy is
most active on his tree.

OUTGOING
Doesn't actively solicit attention from strangers, but does well with
them.  I have introduced Sammy to LOTS of people.  He has also
traveled with me about 2300 miles by car.

HUMAN ATTENTION REQUIRED
Craves attention first thing in the morning, generally is happier left
alone during the middle of the day, craves attention starting in the
early evening.  I assume this is the result of my work schedule that
he has been exposed to ever since I got him home.  In the evening, I
sometimes can't leave the room without hearing the sound of "flap flap
flap thud" (he makes the most amazingly graceless landings!!!).
However, if he is on top of his cage, he will usually stay put.

CHEWING
Not all that much (as reported for pionus).  However, if I have
headphones on, the little $%^$$#^ will try to take a chunk out of the
wire :(  Beyond that, He isn't allowed unsupervised on the floor and
hasn't had much chance to retouch the furniture :)

There is also a Pionus mailing list if you care to subscribe.  It has
been rather quiet lately, but I'm sure a few questions will perk
things up for a while :)  You can subscribe by writing to:

There is also a publication by the Pionus Breeders Association.

From the Pionus list:

Subject: Pionus Breeders Association


Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Precedence: bulk

    I don't know if everyone on the list is aware of the PBA. I'm a new
Status: OR

member and I have enjoyed the articles about Pionus. The articles cover
all kinds of topics, not just breeding information.

     To join PBA send $12 to:
                Barbara Avery
                11006 Roswell
                Pomona, CA 91766

    In the Fall 1994 Issue No. 25 the PBA asks for "thoughts,
observations, comments, whatever, regarding your Pionus (pets or
breeders)" for a guide they are producing called _The PBA Guide to Pionus
Parrots_.
    I thought it might be neat to contribute to this guide as a group but
I would like your thoughts about this idea. If you have a comment for
them, please add a line to your note indicating that it could be used in
the newsletter as I wouldn't think of using it unless it was labelled as
a contribution.
    I know there was a lot of talk on pet.rec.birds about advertising and
I think advertising of pionus and related materials should be welcome on
this list. What do you think?

Rochester, Michigan, North America           ( >__< )

I also dug up a response I gave a Pionus-owner-wannabe some time
back...

Subject: Pionus owner wannabe (fwd)

Date: Fri, 18 Nov 94 13:59:46 CST

Well....... In my case its this little thing called work that gets in
my way. :)

I don't have a wide range of experience (just my 6.5 month old maxi),
but I will say that Sammy will allow anyone to hold him if they want.
He may snarl (as well as he can :) ) and act like he wants to bite,
but if you call his bluff he *will* climb aboard.  The only exception
is he will detect if anyone believes his bluff in about 3 nano-seconds
and will play the act up to the hilt.  It is mostly the small or timid
children that this happens to.

I would tend to think that most pionus are similar enough that the
determining factor will be if your grandson can face an open
BEAK-OF-DOOM without snatching his hand back away from the bird.

Sammy has let some very small children hold him if they don't snatch
their hand away from him.

My training for Sammy has been to hold him every way I think I can get
away with (perched on my finger, stroking his wings, holding his wings
out [he really doesn't like it but he doesn't bite], gently grabbing
him about his main body and picking him up - holding him at wierd
angles, playing with his feet & legs [he really doesn't care much for
this either but still won't bite].  After about a minute of this,
...

read more »

All the pionus are fairly quiet as a rule...I hear white caps can be more
rambuctious.  They all love to bathe, and vacuuming around them makes them
act like they're in the middle of a tropical shower!  I have two duskies,
a less common species but well worth tracking down and priced comparably
to other species.  The loudest sound mine make is a high-pitched call
rather like a 'tiel, but a bit more *insistent*.  (Except for my young
male, who makes a barking sound I think he picked up from Amazons at the
breeder's).  Look into joining the Pionus Breedr's Association, they are
an excellent source of info and are VERY conservation minded.  They fund
research on pionus in the wild, and have a studbook program for member's
birds, which I am proud to participate in!  And as posted here before,
there is a mailing list for pionus fanciers too.  E-mail me if I can help
you get in touch with either of these groups, or want to ask some specific
pionus Q's.  Mine are very affectionate, and their beauty and the fact
that they are not as common has encouraged me to set up a pair which I
hope will breed in 4 or 5 years.