Many of us have been following Davinia's maturity and color changes for the past 3 years, and we all wondered - will "his" beak ever turn the bright orange that will confirm that "he" is a boy.
Maturity of a Moustache Parrot
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Well, it's been 3 years and other than the yellow/orange dot that began at about 1 yrs old, and although it has gotten a little bigger, is still just a dot and the rest of the beak is black.
She is 3 yrs old now and after perusing many pictures have finally come to the decision - DaVinci is a girl, and therefore I have changed her name to DaVinia.
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DaVinia seems to like when I call her pretty girl. (Probably saying finally Mommy has figured it out.)
She also says "My name is DaVin?" She would never say DaVinci. It would be DaVin? with sort of a question mark at the end.
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So here are some pictures of progression:
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At 13 wks old - DaVinia's 1st morning with us. Note the orange tint to the beak. I believe they all have this orange tint when young. Then it either gets full orange if a male or becomes all black if a female. As she got older this orange did disappear.
Her first cage in NY and the first cage she was ever in.
DaVinia's 1st computer lesson, and Mommy's first lesson that her beak is no good for the keyboard. LOL
Here she is a little older. Notice that she has lost any red in her beak now.
This is her first play gym.
DaVinia's cage in PA
DaVinia at 1 yrs old - May 2011 - Just getting some coral color to her chest - note on the left side of the picture - side of her chest - ONE coral feather, and notice the orange/yellow dot that has started on the end of her beak. Yes, she has a plucking habit, which is behavioral.
A few months later - Aug 2011 - More coral on the chest, and more orange to the end of her beak.
Sep 2011 - She seems to let a bit of her feathers and a bit of her tail grow in each September.
Sep 2012 - Now 2 yrs old:
Jul/Aug 2013 - now 3 yrs old:
Note how much more green has come in to her face at 3.
Also notice the coral on the side of the face that comes up between the black marking and the green in the back of the head. From what I have seen the male's coral under the chin stops at the black -
the black meets the green on the side of the head.
DaVinia also comes to work with me sometimes on Fridays.
She is friendly but skittish. She seems to like women more than men.
Hope you have enjoyed our journey so far.
Diana and DaVinia (aka DaVinci, aka DaVin')
