Curious about conures for beginners? Explore their vibrant personalities, care needs, and suitability for first-time bird owners
Parrot make wonderful companion pets, but they are very demanding in terms of time and attention. As such, not all species are ideal for first time bird owners, moreso the medium to large parrots.
That said, most conures are perfect pets for beginners. They are cuddly, friendly, and active tiny goofy birds that will amuse you with their endless antics. Most conures are also not demanding of space because they are mostly small to medium-sized birds.
Perhaps the only downside most beginners cite is their noise levels, moreso Sun, Jenday, and patagonian conures, plus they are not the most avid talkers.
Now, if you want a conure as your first bird, I suggest you start with either a green cheek conure or other pyrrhuras, like the crimson brested conures.
Sun and Jenday conures are also ideal for new parrot parents, but they are extremely loud and are often rehomed within the first 1 to 2 years of purchase by ill-informed and ill-prepared parents.
Nanday conures are perfect if you want a speices slighlty bigger than a Green Cheek, but quiet and more laid back than a Sun or Jenday. These parrot is perfect for apartment living.
Blue crowned conures are your best option if a talking conure is what you are going for, albeit more demanding most species mentioned here!
What Makes Conures Good Beginner Birds (Pros)
Conures make good beginner birds because they are not demanding like large parrots species with new owners.
They require smaller cages, which occupy less space in your house, and the birds consume less food, makes a lesser mess, require fewer toys and enrichments,and rarely develop behavirol issues.
Most conures are also very entertaining. They spend most of their time playing around, swinging (sometimes up-side down), and engaging in all forms of goofy-birdy behavior.
They are willing to perch on your shoulder and even cuddle or snuggle up to you, and they can bond with multiple people (even kids) making them perfect birds for families.
Moreover, conures are slightly nippy but not too aggressive and readily accomodate equally sized companion birds. They quickly pick up simple commands and are willing to learn even with younger owners.
I can bet your conure will willingly step up (out or the cage or perch) for your teenage son or daughter with a few weeks of good training.
That not withstanding, conures still require plenty of social interactions, toys and enrichment. You also have to feed them a nutritious diet, which includes qualtiy pellets, fruits and vegetables.
They also accept a seed and grain diet (though not recommended as a staple), and love nuts, but not avid consumers because their beaks are not as strong as similary sized parrots, like Poicephalus.
Why You Should Not Get A Conure (Cons)
Conures are wonderful pets, but as with any pet parrots, they have a few quirks beginners find challenging.
Perhaps one of the biggest con with conures is their noise, which can be quite insistant especially in Sun, Jenday, and Patagonian conures.
Sun conures are arguably one of the noisiest parrot species considering their size, and their squakes and squeals can be persistent, especailly in the morning and evening.
However. some species are not as noisy. Small species. like green Cheeks and Crimson Bellied conure are relatively quiet, enough even for apartment living.
Nanday conures are also not too vocal considering they are almost the same size as suns and Jendays, but Queen of Bavaria (the other common conure species in the hobby) are quite loud.
Larger Aratinga, such as the Blue Crown, Dusky Headed, Sulphur Brested, and Peach Fronted conures are relative loud, but unlike Suns and Jendays, they are more chatty than consistenly squeaky.
I tend to think they make more effort to mimic sounds and human speech better than Sun conures. Expediently, there are also your best option if you want a conure that can talk.
But please not conures of any kind are not the most prolific talking beginner parrots, which comes as a suprise-cum disappointment to many beginners.
Not that should be anyones reason for wanting a pet parrot🙄😏, still it’s one of the several reasons parrots are rehomed, shocker, I know🤷️
All conures, including tiny ones like Green Cheeks can be nippy, which might be a turn off for some new owners, but its not that bad. Plus, the bites are few and far between compared to larger parrots, they they can still draw blood and scar.
As you may already know, parrot are very longlived birds, and conures are no exception. For instance, Green cheek conures can live for upto 15 years and Sun conures for between 20 and 30 years.
Now depending on the new owners lifestyle and desired, this can be a con (or pro) considering parrots are lovers of stability and are adversely affected by frequent lifestyle changes.