Black-headed Caique
Pionites melanocephalus
Also called Black-headed parrot, Black-capped parrot, Pallid caique (P. m. pallidus), Caique
From Northern South America, north of the Amazon: south-east Colombia, southern and north-eastern Venezuela, the Guianas and northern Brazil, in lowland humid forest and seasonally flooded forest up to about 1,000 m.12
At a glance the quick version
Looks how to spot one
Feathered; small, chunky parrot with a short tail and upright stance
A black cap runs from forehead to nape, with a rusty-orange band across the back of the neck and yellow-orange cheeks and throat. A green patch sits around each eye, the back and wings are green, the chest and belly are creamy white and the thighs and undertail are yellow. The pallid form is paler, with more yellow and a whiter breast.12
Personality what they are like
Nicknamed the clown of the parrot world: bold, cheeky and full of fun. It loves to wrestle toys, may hop around when excited and will happily play on its back. It can be headstrong, and tends to whistle and copy sounds more than it learns words.32
Daily activity how busy a day looks
Very high. Needs lots of daily out-of-cage play and a constant supply of toys to demolish.3
Grooming and care the hands-on bits
Rotate plenty of chew and foot toys and offer regular bathing. Supervised play time with the family keeps it content.32
Home where they are happiest
Despite its modest size it needs a big, sturdy cage or small aviary; Wikipedia gives about 61 x 61 x 91 cm (24 x 24 x 36 in) as a minimum, filled with toys and perches.32
Food basics what goes in the bowl
In the wild it eats seeds, fruit pulp, flowers and leaves. Pets do well on a pellet base with fresh fruit and vegetables.123
Company who they like around
Highly social and wants constant interaction and involvement. Often best kept as the only bird or supervised closely around other species.3
The story where it all began
Linnaeus described the species in 1758. Its scientific name comes from Greek words meaning roughly 'plump' and 'black-headed', and in aviculture it is known by the colloquial name caique, earning a big following for its comic personality.2
Fun facts for the dinner table
- 1
Caiques are famous for playing on their backs and hopping about when excited.3
- 2
They combine sounds they have picked up into new calls instead of just copying them.2
- 3
Wild flocks post sentinel birds to keep watch while the rest feed in the canopy.1
- 4
The scientific name Pionites melanocephalus roughly means 'the plump one with the black head'.2
Recognised by the official bits
- Taxonomy
- Described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae; two subspecies, melanocephalus and pallidus.2
- IUCN Red List
- Least Concern.1
The care rhythm Furry Diary remembers it for you
A typical home-care rhythm for a Black-headed Caique. It is our own starting plan, not a vet's advice, and you can change every line in the app.
- Fresh food and waterevery day
- Cage linerevery 2 days
- Full cleanevery week
- Bath offerevery 3 days
- Nails checkevery month
- Beak checkevery month
- Toy rotationevery week
- Out-of-cage timeAbout 2 hours a dayevery day
- Vet check-upevery year
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Where this comes from
Every breed page shows where each fact comes from. If we got something wrong, sorry, we are pet people, not a science magazine. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
- World Parrot Trust - Black-headed Parrot parrots.orgused for range, size, weight, description, diet, lifespan, status, behaviour
- Wikipedia - Black-headed parrot en.wikipedia.orgused for history, name, subspecies, cage size, behaviour
- Lafeber - Caique lafeber.comused for temperament, activity, housing, diet, social needs, lifespan
Checked 2026-09-30. Text is written in our own words from these sources.