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Sun Conures

Visually, sun conures may be one of the most eye-catching and recognizable of the parrots. Although they are primarily yellow and orange, they have a bright red face, with green and dark blue feathers on the wings and tail. As babies, they may fool you! Their predominant color is green until they approach 4-5 months and the yellow starts to brighten up. It will usually take over a year to color out into their mature plumage. Sun conures can typically live 25 – 30 years.

In the wild they are found in areas of Northeast South America. Males and females will look very similar, and are often difficult to tell apart unless tested.

As pets, sun conures are curious, playful, and affectionate. What is most notable about sun conures may be their love for tents. You can usually find sun conures playing in them, on them, or putting themselves to bed at night. The best ones for conures are open at both ends to allow room for their long tail. When being handled or out of the cage, snuggly sun conures may find their way under their owner’s shirts, into sleeves, and even under the blankets. Like most other conures they are loud and have high pitched ‘screech’ vocalizations. While they are not known to be the best talkers, many can pick up a small vocabulary.

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Pumpkin Oatmeal Puffs

A fluffy bite-sized puff- flavored for the season! Makes about 20-25 quarter-sized treats.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 tbsp raw pepitas (roughly chopped)
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/8 tsp baking soda
  • *1/8 tsp cinnamon
  • *1/8 tsp ground cloves
  • *1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • *(You can substitute these 3 spices for a total of 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice.)

    • Directions:

    1. Preheat the oven to 300 F.
    2. Use a food processor to pulse the rolled oats into a coarse meal.
    3. In a medium bowl, add the oats, sugar, baking soda, and spices and mix briefly.
    4. Add the pumpkin and egg white into the dry ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.
    5. Spoon the mixture into a ziplock or pastry bag, and snip off a small piece of the corner to pipe the batter onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment or foil. The dots should be rounded, roughly the size of a nickel – quarter.
    6. Bake for 12 minutes, then let cool before serving to your birds!

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    Noise Level

    Simply put, parrots can be loud. Sometimes noise is relative- what sounds like normal twittering, chirping, and calling to some bird owners may be shrill or intolerable for others. An important consideration to make before purchasing a bird is your living space, and in some cases, your neighbors, other house hold members, or restrictions of your building if you are in a condo or an apartment. (Many rentable locations are now increasingly pet-friendly!)

    This list takes into consideration both noise volume and the frequency of vocalizations. It is not comprehensive, and will not apply to all birds as each bird is an individual! Some male cockatiels may whistle non-stop while an amazon sits in silence. A pair of lovebirds may be more gregarious than a single conure.

    Generally Suitable in  Pet-Friendly Apartments

    Depends

    Generally Not Suitable in Apartments

    Finch

    Large Parakeets

    Large Conure

    Canary

    Pionus

    Amazon

    Budgerigar

    Senegal

    Cockatoo

    Grass Parakeet

    Ringneck

    Macaw

    Lovebird

    Jardine

    Parrotlet

    Caique

    Lineolated

    Eclectus

    Cockatiel

    African Grey

    Greencheek Conure

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    Foot Toys

    Even though they’re equipped with 2 legs and no arms, parrots are quite adept at manipulating objects with their feet- even balanced on one leg! Sometimes their grasp is full of food, a tasty nut, a feather to itch themselves with, or a chunk of toy. This tactile experience can be very engaging for a parrot, and even humorous to watch for us when their foot has a mind of it’s own! Playing with foot toys can build curiosity, dexterity, and excitement.

    Foot toys can be an important play item that you and your bird can interact with together. These foot toys can be small wood shapes, leather knots and pieces, little wiffle balls, in-shell nuts, or wooden/plastic beads on a rope. This tiny-toy approach is a novel way to play, and may even help encourage older birds that are intimidated by large hanging toys, to play as well. Avoid coins, unknown metals and magnets, and other unsafe materials.

    Foot toys can be left on the bottom of the cage, but they may get pooped on! Some birds never venture down to the bottom of their cage, but you can always bring the toys to them! Create a toy-bowl for your bird with any medium-sized bowl or dish that you can hang or attach to the cage. Fill it with small, parrot-safe, hand-held items, and even a few dry edible treats. When your bird is out of the cage, remove the bowl (and refill it if needed) and move it to a safe flat surface with your bird for more playtime!