A big parrot in a little body
Are you one of the many people who has dreamed of owning a parrot one day? Did you fall in love with the big, boisterous personality of a friend’s macaw or cockatoo? Do you look around your living room and say: “There’s no way I can make room for a cage bigger than my car”? If so, a conure might be the perfect bird for you!
The conure is a lively, charm-packed parrot that can make those dreams come true without over-taking your house. A conure has everything the big birds have – but in a smaller package.
You should know, though, that just because a bird is small it doesn’t mean that you can toss food in its cage and be done with it. Small birds need the same level of care, socialization and training as do the big guys. So if you are looking for a small bird with the expectation of it being easier, think again.
For small birds, many conure species can be surprisingly loud. Even though they can’t match the decibel level of a cockatoo or macaw, they make up for it in persistence. Their normal vocalizations might be present throughout the day. For many people, conures are too loud.
They can be territorial and nippy, especially around their cages, and they have a tendency towards being what we call “one person birds”. These birds often take a preference towards a single member of the household.
It doesn’t seem like a big deal, especially when you are that preferred person, but it becomes a problem when the bird refuses to interact with anyone else but you, sometimes biting others who want to play with them. Worse, they often start to think of you as their mate. During breeding season, they will occasionally try to run off a family member or house-guest who gets too close to you.
To keep this from happening, the conure owner needs to understand the vital role that proper socialization with all family members plays in the raising of their bird. Training is the easiest and most effective way to make that happen and it can solve your conure problems with just a few minutes of one-on-one time a day.
Is training worth the effort?
Think of it this way, I’m sure you know that when you have a parrot it needs out of cage time every day. It would just be cruel to leave a bird in a cage for its entire life, right?
You have a choice… you can spend that out of cage time chasing your unruly conure around the house, as it dive-bombs dad and bites little Timmy’s finger, or you can spend a small fraction of that out of cage time with a quick training session (3 minutes is all it takes!) and the rest of the time enjoying each other’s company.
There are over 40 different conure species. They vary greatly in size, personality and appearance giving you a lot to think about before you make your final decision on which bird to take home. The best thing a perspective conure owner can do is to educate themselves by researching any species they have an interest in before they get one. The best teacher will be an owner of the parrot species you are considering.
Below is our recommended training package if you own or have decided on adopting a conure:
50 comments
I have a baby GCC and I loveeee him. He’s the cuddliest little man with a lot of attitude.
A Sun Conure ‘s personality is like a loving child. All it want from it’s owner is LOVE. It gives you unconditional love. They are easy to train but require a lot of attention just like a child. But the love they give you is overwhelming. They love to have fun with you and they love to play “peek-a-boo” with you. So if you are looking for a good companion to keep you company…a Sun Conure would be a good fit.
Can you do a video on excessive preening. I see it in a lot in green cheek conures, the tips of their feathers are a bit jagged, but not plucked out. I heard artificial colored pellets can make them itchy. I was curious if it was a deficiency of some sort. I’ve also read a humidifier, as they need a lot of humidity in the air. I’d love to see a video covering all the basics to over preening, including behavioral, after ruling out health concerns at the vets of course.
hi we have an 8 week old Sun Conure. He loves to cuddle on his back, sleeps on his back on our chest. Is this normal?
I got a rescue bird. The person that had him died. They were going to put him down so I took him. I had owned a Amazon Gardaine. He passed away when he was ten. I can’t get 😫 Ollie to come to me can only talk to him in his cage, I have had him for almost a year. I also have a dog he likes to pick on the dog 🐕 so I can’t take him out of his cage the dog will go after him. I would like to do more things with him but he will bite me. Any suggestions 🤔.
I am in the process of deciding what species is the best fit for me and my family. This will be our first parrot. Can you share a few resource that will help me with reliable resources to research the different parrots.
I am in the process of deciding what species is the best fit for me and my family. This will be our first parrot. Can you share a few resource that will help me with reliable resources to research the different parrots.
Hi! I am caring for a friend’s conures, a male and a female. They have been caged together for years. I want to give them them best quality of life that I can. Will the intro training set include information on how to deal with a mated pair and proper diet? They have no food drive because they are getting too much of their favorite stuff is in their current mix. I’m assuming that until I get that addressed, training is somewhat pointless.
I have a pineapple conure. she is still a little one she is 5 months old and oh my goodness she is very nippy! I have read so many different things to do but nothing seems to work. As soon as I open her cage she flys right out bro me. This makes it very difficult to train. I am not giving up.
Hi my conure is really great towards me and quite gentle however whenever she goes onto my mother she always attacks her face was just wondering of a way to help my mom not get bitten on the face. Thanks
Hi, I have a female yellow sided green cheek conure named Cheeku. I’m a ten year old boy who has never had experience with parrots whatsoever. I need to know everything and anything about green cheek conures. I’ve had my conure for 7-8 months now. Please help me.
Hi, i have 12 week old Turquise green cheek, i do Not Luke the food hes on which zupreen for cockitels and egg prochain. Please help!!
How do I free fly my conure
hello i have a green cheek parakeet he is about 7 months old i had him when he was 4-5weeks old very sweet he like to bite my ear lightly it was cute but i try stop him when he did it it work for a little bit in tell he was 5 months he started to bite more now 6-7 months he bite hard he picking on my dog and my other birds and when he is mad at me he attack me my hands face but next minute he is sleeping on my hand head shoulder or sleeping on my dog and he likes to ride my dog around the house i still love him im his first and last home that will never change and i named him zombie
Hi, I am poojitha from India. I have a sunconure. She is one and a half year old. She eats only apple, sunflower seeds and almond, raisins. We give her veggies but she refuges to eat them. Can we continue to give these or should we force her to eat veggies. Please suggest. Thank you
Hello, I have a green cheek and was wondering if spearmint is ok for his species. This website and a few others say it is ok for parrots, but I just want to be sure. Thank you.
I inherited my sun and i have no idea anything about. I’ve had a month or so and i just love it. I’ve finally got him to step from his cage. But when my little poodle is around he attacks it and if my hand is I the way wow he has one hack of a bite. Any suggestions on how to handle this. I’ve. Also have heard that when bird does something bad it has time out time in his cage, is that a true statement. He loves to sleep with me,h gets all up under the pillows and seem perfectly content.any help would be greatly appreciated. I plan on ordering food from you but I want him to finish up what i have. Im a poor old lady just trying to enjoy my latter days.
So i just purchased a green cheek conure and he likes to hang on the bars more than the perches. When he’s on the bars, he usually stays there for about 2-6 mins, and then he’ll move around. Is this normal??
Hi, my black cap conure has an Ofer, vinegar or sour, cage is clean. Any advice?
I have a 4 year old Conure he was 3 when I got him he will not eat anything but seeds and her will not eat treats at all what can I do
Please bring g vet to bird emergency care asap
I need a recipe for seed/legume diet for my conure. Do you have one? I bought your book some time ago but recently moved and can’t find it.
My green cheek conure is like 3 months and he is very aggressive and I’m trying to train him and I don’t know how
An excellent tool to train your birds. The techniques are all very well explained, as well as the diet and other procedures. It all makes a great deal of sense. Thank you for sharing your views and insight into parrots.
Hy my name is Howard, my wife is sick, because our bird is sick or dieing, I think our bird is a Conure, small parrot looking bird, she thinks our grand kids may have fed him or she something to eat that that has the bird sick or… is there any thing we could give the bird to make it throw up or…get past this or is the bird done far? I’m out of state from my home sending you this email hopefully to find a cure for our bird, any info would be appreciated, thanks
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