The ring

[Leena]

Rio has got a black ring below his beak. I read male alexes get it around two years of age. Rio is definitely between 8 to 12 months. Eyes still black with a faint ring so you see the pinning. He is fully flighted now. He says a few words like rio, pretty bird, kisses. But mimics a lot of sounds. Should I be worried about the early ring or is it just a shadow ring ?

 

[Dinosrawr]

That's interesting - how do you know his approximate age? It's possible that he may have just developed his ring early, but you often don't see the ring until after 18 months of age. My IRN is over that mark, and I'm thinking his next major molt will bring about the ring neck feathers as he doesn't have them now.

It definitely looks like normal black ring feathers to me, though. I wouldn't be so worried about it considering that it's a natural occurrence colour wise. It's also probable for parrots to reach maturity rather early in a domestic setting and it isn't uncommon to hear of them hitting puberty well before their wild counterparts. If you're super concerned, there's never any harm in taking him to a vet to do an overall wellness check

 

[itchyfeet]

Has he started getting his red yet?
I'm under the impression it's in by 2, as opposed to beginning at 2...could be wrong though.

 

[Betrisher]

My male Alex didnt'get his ring until fairly late: he was just finishing his third moult when he got two black spots on his neck. Then, he flew away! Three weeks later, he was returned to us with an almost-complete neck ring. I had been thinking that perhaps he was a female, but the neck ring came in eventually.

I think no two birds will grow at the same rate and yours is either older than you think or an early developer.

 

[Leena]

Regarding Rio's approximate age I spoke with his breeder who confirmed he cannot be more than 12 months.
What is interesting is he never had small black spots but after he grew his feathers there was always a dark shadow of black which has got darker
There are no signs of the pink band but ill keep you posted when the pink/red comes on .