Meet Fig

On February 17th, in sunny Charleston, South Carolina, a tiny egg, one of five, was hatching.  Out of it came a blind, naked mouse with a beak.  At ten days old, Fig was taken from the nest and hand-fed by Kit Matthew, who breeds Palmetto Parrotlets (https://sites.google.com/site/palmettoparrotlets/).  Her birds are Green Rumped Parrotlets, the smallest of the parrotlets and one of the smallest species of parrot, at about four inches in length.  Kit's birds are extremely tame and well-adjusted because they have been handled constantly their entire lives and included in daily human activities such as taking a shower.

Although they are much smaller than most parrots, parrotlets still have big parrot personalities, are very trainable, and often learn to speak.  Green Rumped Parrotlets are bright apple green, and the males have some blue on their backs and wings.  These pictures are courtesy of Kit Matthew and show Fig at 2 1/2 weeks and 4 weeks old.  Even at 2 1/2 weeks, you can see the blue of his pin feathers that suggest he's a male.