BROTOGERIS

They are very intelligent and can be taught many tricks. They are also very adventurous. They can be stubborn as well. This can be a dangerous combination. They will figure out a way to get where or what they want, no matter what.

They have great personalities and make very good pets, if acquired as young birds or handfed babies.

They are bold, fearless and inquisitive (challenging birds much bigger than themselves seems like a game to them), curious, active, and demanding. Some will even throw temper tantrums when they don't get their way or are overly tired. It is very much like having a 3 year old. And like a three year old they can become opinionated as well. They enjoy riding on your shoulders or going into your shirt pocket. This is how they received their other name of "pocket parrot". They are also very loyal to their pet humans.

While they are not strong chewers they do enjoy destroying wood products. They seem to be very fond of green apple wood with the bark left on. They will chew the bark and eat the soft stuff right under the bark.

	Grey-cheeked parakeets or Orange-winged Parakeets  are about 8 inches long and weigh around 45-60 grams. They are not sexually dimorphic and must be sexed either by DNA or surgically. Grey cheeks are sometimes referred to as Pocket parrots, orange-winged or orange flanked parrots. During the 1970's until 1992 huge numbers of these birds were imported into the United States. Importation stopped suddenly when a federal bill was passed. Still during those years these birds were very popular. They were on the list of the ten most popular birds. One of the things that made them so popular was that they were very tame. The reason for this was that almost all of the imports were babies that were hand-fed. They were either hand-fed in Ecuador or Peru or right in the U.S. quarantine stations. Grey-cheeks are fun loving birds that form strong bonds with it's owner. Unlike other parrots, a properly socialized grey-cheek will form strong bonds with more than one family member. But beware, these little guys can be quite territorial with their family. Some owners even describe them as being little "watch birds".
Canary-winged or Yellow-chevroned parakeets or Chiriri Parakeet are larger than the grey-cheeks, being around 8 1/2-10 inches long and weigh around 60-75 grams. They are not sexually dimorphic and must be sexed either surgically or by DNA. As pets they are friendly and very tame though they may show some jealously towards other pets. They are not good talkers though they can mimic some words and sounds. A little history about the canary-wing parakeets might be interesting. From the late 60's to the mid 70's more the 260,000 birds were brought to the United States for the pet trade. Then it was the most common parrot that was imported. Unfortunately several of them have escaped. There are now feral populations living in California, Florida, Connecticut and in New York. In Florida is where they have the most success, however. One of the last reports have spotted around 700 individuals in one flock. They are also known as pocket parrots or a bee-bee parrot. Make sure that you provide either a hanging bed or snuggle hut for them to sleep in. They feel much more secure when they sleep in one.
White-winged parakeet  are the largest member of Brotogeris. They range in size from 8 1/2 to 9 1/2 inches in length and weighs around 65-75 grams. Like the other members of Brotogeris, they are not sexually dimorphic and must be sexed either by DNA or surgically. They are considered to be a semi-noisy bird. They are not great talkers, but usually can pick up a few words or sentences. Make sure that you provide either a hanging bed or snuggle hut for them to sleep in. They feel much more secure when they sleep in one.

Cobalt-winged parakeets  have the largest range of the Brotogeris and they are not endangered in the wild. In fact it is believed that there are more than 1 million of them in the wild.

The first successful breeding in the United States took place in 1983. The first successful breeding in England took place in 1985.

They are not too noisy and they seem to have an easy going more passive nature than grey-cheeks do.

Golden-winged parakeets in the wild can be seen eating fresh water snails. They have been seen dipping their entire heads in the water to get to these snails, which they will bring to the branches of a nearby tree. They will hold onto the shell of the snail with one foot while they will pull the snail out with their upper beak. If they can't get to the snail that way they will break off pieces of the shell first and then get to the snail. They are also seen eating algae.

In the wild they are also seen at areas that have mineral rich soil, which they will feed on.

They are around 6-7 1/2 inches in length, depending on the subspecies you chose and weigh around 60-70 grams.

In the wild they are active and love to climb around  the branches, so they should be given lots of different size perches to climb on. The perches should be of various types and diameters. Some should be small enough that they can wrap their feet around them while others should be where they keep their feet flat.

They are fairly quiet and very social. Some owner report that they can be rather shy sometimes.

Orange-chinned parakeets Bee-bee Parrot or Tovi Parakeet are strong fliers and have been recorded flying at speeds up to around 45 m.p.h..

They are not sexually dimorphic and must be sexed either by DNA or surgically.

They are around 7 inches in length and weigh around 55-65 grams.