Guess the age

[Kiwi’s mum]

Hello all. Once again.
So… have had Kiwi for nearly a week. All going alright so far however my next question is to the more experienced IRN parents - I’m convinced that Kiwi is OLDER than the shop suggested. (Shock horror)
My concern is the level of care I’m going to have to up it to to compensate for the possible lie. Not a problem. Just means more time and work. Not shy of this. Another concern is stimuli for an older bird obviously will need upping… again not a problem… moving forward, the age will determine the overall proper care it’ll need.
Google is never a good idea for a positive answer, many have suggested differences in ages depending on the colour around the eyes. The scales and colour on the feet. I’m aware the ring around the neck may or may not happen unless male at around 3? Please DO correct me if my search is a lie.
Kiwis orange around the eye is visible from a distance. Very vibrant. And the white is also there. Assumed that “babies” “young” (13-14weeks) DO NOT have this. Again please correct me if I’m wrong. This is all for the benefit of Kiwi. IF the shop have mis-sold me the bird under false pretences I will make the relevant people aware.

Thanks guys/gals

 

[ctwo]

I'm not an expert and probably have seen most of the same material you've seen.

If male, I would guess about a year old. If female, it's harder to tell if much older, but I think they still develop a very slight, brighter colored ring, like lime green in your case. I cannot quite tell in your photo.

Mine was 5 years old when I got him. It took time and effort to build a bond between us, and likely it was more challenging than usual because he came as a pair bonded with a cockatiel. It certainly seemed to me that we experienced the full gamete bluffing stage, perhaps as a rite of passage. I think how it works out is more up to the individual personality of the particular bird, assuming with proper training and attention.

 

[Kiwi’s mum]

I'm not an expert and probably have seen most of the same material you've seen.

If male, I would guess about a year old. If female, it's harder to tell if much older, but I think they still develop a very slight, brighter colored ring, like lime green in your case. I cannot quite tell in your photo.

Mine was 5 years old when I got him. It took time and effort to build a bond between us, and likely it was more challenging than usual because he came as a pair bonded with a cockatiel. It certainly seemed to me that we experienced the full gamete bluffing stage, perhaps as a rite of passage. I think how it works out is more up to the individual personality of the particular bird, assuming with proper training and attention.

Thank you for that. Given me more insight. I’m waiting on a call from the vet because I want to get Kiwi checked out for everything. Let kiwi out of the cage yesterday as a trial to see if this would help. It has to a degree, but after flying 6 feet or so and landing the breathing was that audible it worried me. Never hear a bird so out of breath. So not to stress it out I left ALL favourite treats ontop and inside the cage to coax back in with gentle movements to encourage the direction. Took about half an hour but worked. Something I’m not willing to repeat until s/He’s been checked. Unless someone tells me that’s normal of course. Can do without killing it off!!
Thank you for your input. Stored and noted. X

 

[Squeeing_Onion]

My concern is the level of care I’m going to have to up it to to compensate for the possible lie. Not a problem. Just means more time and work. Not shy of this. Another concern is stimuli for an older bird obviously will need upping… again not a problem… moving forward, the age will determine the overall proper care it’ll need.

I'm a little confused what you're talking about in this section, so pardon me if I have misunderstood.

An older bird isn't so much requiring "more care" and "more mental stimulation" -- it just takes the shift of perspective of working with an older bird who may already be past some of the crucial formative stages of a baby, yet still needs your education and guidance to continue growing into a healthy, balanced individual.

A baby needs just as much of your time and attention and education as an adult does, but they may be learning different lessons or have a different predisposition towards one behavior or another, and learning speed.

Google is never a good idea for a positive answer, many have suggested differences in ages depending on the colour around the eyes. The scales and colour on the feet. I’m aware the ring around the neck may or may not happen unless male at around 3? Please DO correct me if my search is a lie.
Kiwis orange around the eye is visible from a distance. Very vibrant. And the white is also there. Assumed that “babies” “young” (13-14weeks) DO NOT have this.

Like Ctwo, I've probably found the same resources you have. The most useful one I found had photos of an IRN throughout the growth cycle -- there's also a video on youtube of a green IRN from hatchling to full grown adult. (I believe there was both a male and female, and they focused on the male's timelapse)

I can dig them up if need be, but they were pretty easy to find.

When I was trying to figure out a better pinpoint for Echo's age -- I came away with the following understanding;

-Juveniles have duller plumage than adults, and shorter tail feathers
-The next stage of Adult plumage is usually attained at a "first molt" (I am unclear on this fact, as I only found one or two places mentioning it, and no one had photo comparisons) and results in more vibrant colors, and a longer tail.
-I'm unsure if hte pumpkin colored eye ring comes in before or during the above stage, but somewhere around that timeframe
-The white sclera of the eye is more visible, instead of a juvenile's solid-black eye (cute little Halloween eyes!)
-Male's black rings develop anywhere from around 18 months to three years of age

I think my Echo is about 11-12 months old now. From what I currently understand, it looks like most petstores get them around 8-12 weeks at the youngest, depending on if they were hand-reared or aviary reared. Aviary reared birds apparently take longer to raise, which I think is a good thing -- for the birds. Businesses want them as fast as possible with as little cost into it.

If you know when the store got Kiwi, you can use that like I did with Echo to pinpoint an age-range.

I did talk to my vet about it, and she pretty much shrugged and said there was no way to tell. I think that was a bit of a misnomer, since you CAN tell.... but only, I think, if you were able to witness and thus keep track of when their changes came through.

I got Echo right during his first molt, when his adult tail feathers grew in blue and iridescent, and at the tail end of his all-black cute Halloween eyes. He's forever my little pumpkin boy.