Conures are social birds that love human company and can make great pets. They come in a number of different species including the sun conure to the green cheeked conure, each with their own remarkable characteristics and physical appearances.
Check out 9 amazing things about conures below.
1. Conures can be left alone for up to 8 hours
Conures can stay alone for no longer than eight hours. These birds love human interaction. As a result, leaving them alone for a long time will make them unhappy and result in undesirable behavior. An unhappy conure will be aggressive and loud and will bite often.
If you want to know for how long you can leave conures alone, this is the ultimate guide for you. We will help you understand which species of conures can live together, conure vision, whether conures bite, and how to instill discipline in conures. Read through this article to find out all the answers you need.
Conures need attention from their owners. This does not imply that you should be present beside your pet throughout the day. However, when around, you should spend maximum time with your pet to compensate for the time you are away.
Conures can stay alone for up to eight hours a day, after which they will experience boredom. Given these birds’ intelligence, they will learn your schedule and expect you home at a specific time. Failure to be present for your bird will make them frustrated and aggressive. Thus, if you work for long hours or have a full-time job away from home, you may need to reconsider owning a conure for a pet as you might lack time to bond.
To keep your pet entertained while you are away, you can have someone step in for you and give your pet company. You may also leave your TV or radio on to give your pet the illusion that someone is home with them. Alternatively, if you are in a position, you can add an extra conure to keep each other company. However, if you put two conures together, they will stop relying too much on you and be more comfortable with each other’s company.
2. Conures and Ringnecks Live Together
Generally, you should not force birds to live together, especially if you did not raise them together. This is because the birds could fight over food, toys, or territorial dominance and injure each other.
Conures and ringnecks can live together, but there are more risks than benefits associated with this pairing. Compared to conures, ringnecks are smaller birds. Also, conures can be temperamental and could turn the ringneck into their target any time they have mood swings.
Putting ringnecks with conures will result in bullying, and the ringnecks may sustain serious injury. However, with close supervision, these birds can interact, but if you notice any fights, you should immediately separate them to prevent untimely death.
While housing conures and ringnecks, you should also pay attention to their different nutritional needs and the cage’s size. You might need to introduce multiple food stations to meet the need of each bird. Also, since conures are territorial, they can bite the new ringneck over the items they feel attached to in the cage.
To prevent this, you should get new toys and perches once you put your birds together and rearrange the cage to prevent the bird already in captivity from feeling like it owns everything.
3. Conures cannot properly see in the dark
When you switch off your lights and go to sleep, it is normal to hear your conure move around and play. Whether conures can see in the dark is a concern that many owners want to be addressed.
Conures cannot see properly in the dark due to their eye structure. Their eye structure is more like that of human beings; hence, the vision. While some individuals think of lighting their conures cage to improve vision at night, this may not work since, besides its poor vision, your pet also needs to sleep at night. Therefore, at night, you should keep your pet in their cage to feel safe and ensure they rest for about 12 hours.
Since conures cannot see well in the dark, you should avoid disturbing them during the night by giving them a daytime schedule. To ensure your bird rests, switch off every light around your pet’s surroundings at night. This is because keeping the lights on will distract your pet and make it think it is still daytime.
You should also close your pet’s cage at night since they prefer to be in comfortable spaces when night sets in. Closing the cage also prevents your bird from stepping out when they see some light, as this may result in accidents due to their poor night vision.
Some pet owners will even cover their bird’s cages to ensure complete darkness at night. While this works for some conures, others will find it suffocating and uncomfortable.
Despite being active during the day, conures will still do some activities such as feeding in the night. Thus, stocking your pet’s cage with food and water at night will give them access if they wake up in the middle of the night. Finally, if your schedule is such that you wake up too early before your conure, you should go about your business silently to avoid distracting your pet.
4. Conures don’t have night vision
Dogs and cats will see at night clearly since they have night vision. On the other hand, while a conure may feed or play at night, their vision is not like dogs and cats.
Conures can see in low lighting, but they do not have night vision. This is because they are diurnal creatures and are hence, more active during the day. Their eye structure comprises fewer rods, but they have more cones to enable them to see during the day.
The back of the eyes, called the retina, contains cells that respond to light. These cells, also called photoreceptors, include the rods and cones. Rods are sensitive to the changes in light and darkness and help us to perceive movement and shape.
On the other hand, cones help us perceive color, and they only work in bright light. This explains why it is difficult to see in the dark and why we are mostly color blind at night.
If you have more rods and cones, your night vision will be good. This explains why dogs and cats can see clearly at night. Conures, on the other hand, are more like humans and will not see clearly at night.
5. Some conure species can talk better than others
Conures use their voice to communicate with their flock, warn or defend their territory. Some conures make a pleasant sound while others can be so irritating to your ears. Also, depending on the species, some conures have a wide vocabulary and will talk the best.
Among the best talking conures include the African Greys, Timneh Greys, and Yellow Naped Amazons. Also, the African Grey is very good at talking and has the largest human vocabulary. Amazon conures, in addition to their vocabulary, can also sing human music.
Usually, your conures speech will perfect depending on how much time you spend around them. This is because these pets learn by mimicking their human counterparts. You can also perfect your bird’s talking capabilities by training them like you would teach a baby how to talk.
To do this, repeat a sound, and when your pet says it correctly, praise them to let them know you are pleased with them. This way, your pet will want to repeat what you say and expand its vocabulary. Constant communication with your conure when around them will also help them learn how to talk. You can do this by letting your pet know what you are doing or what you are up to when around them.
6. Blue Crowned conures talk the most
As a pet owner, you would want your pet to give you company and, if possible, talk to you. While conures are not the best talkers in the parrot world, they can utter a few human words. Depending on their temperament, some conures will be very talkative while others, such as the green cheek, will be calm and quiet.
The Blue-crowned conures are the most talkative and loud conures. They are also intelligent and have a very large vocabulary. These birds are also very smart and love to steal human attention with their noise. For this reason, you should mind your neighbor’s proximity if you want to keep this bird for a pet as their noise can be very disruptive.
Other talkative conures include the sun conures, Jenday, and Red masked conures. The sun and Jenday conures can be very noisy, especially if you deny them attention. Red masked conures will also be talkative and noisy when demanding your attention, but they are not as loud as the sun and Jenday. Also, they are easy to train to talk with ease compared to the other species.
While conures can be very loud and talkative, there is no specific way of quieting them down. However, by giving your bird the attention it demands, you will keep its anxiety in check. You can also supply enough toys to help them let out their energy and stay calmer.
7. Conures can be disciplined
As a pet owner, you will notice bad behavior in your pet in the course of interaction. Biting is the most common indiscipline in conures. Given their strong beaks, you should discipline them to prevent them from hurting you or your household members.
Negative reinforcement and training is a useful way to discipline your sun conure. While birds may not respond to this technique as other household pets would, you will still be able to make it clear to your pet that you are not impressed by their behavior. If your pet bites you when holding them, you can put them on the floor or back to their cage and ignore them for a while.
However, putting them back in their cage can make them associate the cage with bad things; hence, safe to put them on the floor. While doing this, you can say a firm “No” to their behavior to discourage them from repeating it.
Other sun conure owners prefer a tap on the conure’s beak, especially if they attempt to bite them when picking them up. This way, you will let your pet know that you are aware of its intentions. You can then say a firm “No” to the bite and try picking them up again.
Your parrot will learn your language and remain disciplined. While instilling discipline to your sun conure, you should also remember to praise them when they behave well to encourage them to continue their good behavior.
8. Conures do bite a lot
Conures are social birds and love human company. However, your once peaceful and affectionate pet could bite you, suddenly, but this behavior usually has a trigger.
Generally, conures will bite you for various reasons, including fear, environmental issues, hormonal triggers, aggression, or stress. They are quite sensitive to sudden changes, especially in their environment. For instance, if you do not clean their cage as you used to, you will make your pet unhappy, and it may bite you when you get close to it.
A once neglected or ill-treated conure is also more likely to bite. This is because conures will relate to people depending on how they treat them. An abandoned or traumatized bird will believe that everyone around it is out there to harm it and will be defensive by biting them if they get close to them.
Thus, if your new conure bites often, it could be due to its past interactions with human beings. Therefore, you should give it time and treat it well to build trust. Over time, your pet will get comfortable around you and stop biting.
Conures are also territorial and love their space. They will also get attached to toys and other objects in their cage such that they become uncomfortable with you getting around them. Getting too close to your bird’s territory and its objects will brew aggressiveness, resulting in a bite.
Conures also tend to be more aggressive around puberty due to hormonal changes. Therefore, they will bite more around this time, and you should limit interactions until they outgrow this stage.
If your bird constantly bites, you can make some adjustments to stop this behavior. For instance, to prevent them from being territorial, consider moving them out of their cage when you want to bond with them. You can also move objects around their enclosure to detach them from anything they are defensive about.
Placing your pet on your laps rather than your shoulders will also help stop this behavior as your conure will feel more dominant on your shoulders and will likely bite you than when on your laps.
Finally, you should trust your pet by treating them right and meeting their needs. This way, your once abandoned and mistreated pet will slowly appreciate that you mind its welfare; hence, forming a bond with you. While doing the above, you should be patient with your pet. The duration your conure takes to trust you will vary and rushing your pet will make it anxious and bite more.
9. Conure bites can hurt
As a conure owner, it is normal for your pet to bite you at some point in your interactions. The bite may be expected or can catch you off guard. Thus, understanding the intensity of pain from a conure bite is necessary.
Conure bites will hurt depending on how aggressive your bird is during the bite. You will feel the bite in most cases, but it may not be strong enough to draw blood. Also, where they bite, you will dictate how painful the bite will be. In some parts, the bite will feel like a superficial pinch, while in others, such as the forehead, it may be very painful and could even form a scab.
Since conure bites can be painful, you should learn your pet’s body language before handling them to avoid possible bites. You should also keep your pet away from your face, ears, and necks are painful in case of a bite. If possible, train your bird on the appropriate beak pressure to avoid painful bites when playing with it.
Wrap Up
Conures love human company and should not be left alone for long. Thus, if you are away for long hours, get your pet a partner or someone to care for it. Conures are also diurnal birds and will stay active during the day. They also have poor night vision and will spend most of their night sleeping. Therefore, you should ensure your bird gets enough rest by setting up the cage conditions in their favor.
If you want a conure to keep you company in terms of speech, you can consider species such as the African Grey, which have the best talking ability. However, if you do not mind noisy conure, then the Blue-crowned conures are ideal.
Finally, conures can also exhibit some indiscipline, such as biting. This is usually triggered by factors such as hormonal changes, aggressiveness, or fear. However, you can discipline your conure through training against this behavior. By taking time to learn your pet and understanding its body language, you will establish a strong and happy relationship.
