Conures
Small parrots with a big bird's voice, though the green cheek is quieter than the rest. Playful, and they sleep on their backs, which alarms new owners.
Overview
Conure covers a large group of small to medium South American parrots, roughly 60 to 300 g, and they are the middle ground between a budgie and a macaw: enough personality to be a real companion, small enough to house reasonably.
The trade off is noise. Conures are piercingly loud for their size, and the call of a sun conure at close range is genuinely uncomfortable. It is the single most common reason people rehome them.
Temperament
Clownish, affectionate and demanding of attention. Conures like being handled, they burrow into clothing, and they sleep on their backs, which alarms every new owner at least once.
They are also nippy and they scream, and both are usually attention seeking that has been accidentally rewarded. A conure that gets a reaction for screaming has learned a reliable tool. They bond strongly, sometimes to one person, and can be territorial about their cage.
Care and grooming
A pellet base with vegetables and some fruit. Conures take fruit well and several species are nectar feeders in the wild, so a slightly higher sugar diet is more appropriate here than for a seed eating parrot.
They bathe often and enjoy it. Feather condition, weight and droppings are the three things worth checking daily, because a bird this size hides illness until it is advanced and then declines quickly.
Living and exercise
24 by 24 by 30 inches minimum, and they use every inch of it. Rope perches, swings and destructible toys, replaced regularly because they are destroyed regularly.
Twenty to thirty years is the usual expectation, so a conure bought for a teenager is a bird that will still be there well into their forties. It is a smaller commitment than a macaw and it is not a small one.
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