Conure

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Sun conure Birds Sun Conure.jpg
Sun conure

Conures are a diverse, loosely defined group of small to medium-sized parrots. They belong to several genera within a long-tailed group of the New World parrot subfamily Arinae. The term "conure" is used primarily in bird keeping, though it has appeared in some scientific journals. [1] The American Ornithologists' Union uses the generic term parakeet for all species elsewhere called conure, though Joseph Forshaw, a prominent Australian ornithologist, uses conure. [2]

Contents

Nanday conure NandayConure-Jack.jpg
Nanday conure
Cinnamon green-cheeked conure Pyrrhura molinae - cinnamon mutation.jpg
Cinnamon green-cheeked conure
St Thomas conure Brown-throated Parakeet (Aratinga pertinax) -pet.jpg
St Thomas conure
Extinct Carolina parakeet AudubonCarolinaParakeet2.jpg
Extinct Carolina parakeet

Description

Conures are either large parakeets or small parrots found in the Western Hemisphere. They are analogous in size and way of life to Afro-Eurasia's rose-ringed parakeets or the Australian parakeets. All living conure species live in Central and South America. The extinct Conuropsis carolinensis, or Carolina parakeet was an exception. Conures are often called the clowns of the parrot world due to their constant attention seeking behavior including hanging upside-down and swaying back and forth or "dancing".

Despite being large for parakeets, conures are lightly built with long tails and small (but strong) beaks. Conure beaks always have a small cere and are usually horn-colored (gray) or black. Most conure species live in flocks of 20 or more birds. Conures often eat grain, and so are treated as agricultural pests in some places.

Conures are as diverse a group as African parrots, so trying to characterize them all is difficult and inaccurate. The category conure is loosely defined because they do not currently constitute a natural, scientific grouping. The term conure is now used mostly in aviculture. Scientists tend to refer to these birds as "parrots" or "parakeets". The sun conure is one of the few species that is regularly called a conure even in scientific texts. (See below under Scientific classification for more details.)

Species

Conures, as the term is used by aviculturists, include only the genera Aratinga , Pyrrhura , Eupsittula and Psittacara , as well as several single-species genera and one two-species genus. Not all members of these genera are called "conures" with equal frequency; some are more often referred to as parakeets. These other genera are listed below:

Aratinga

Old Tupi for "bright macaw", (ara – "macaw", tinga "bright") the Aratinga conures generally seem to have a more mischievous personality than the real little macaws or mini-macaws. Popular as pets, the Aratinga conures are generally larger than other conure species with brighter plumage and are generally the noisier, more outgoing, and more demanding of the two primary conure genera. The colorful sun conure and jandaya parakeet are among the species of conures more commonly kept as pets. Many of the Aratinga species can be quite loud, but otherwise can make very good pets for responsible owners. Their lifespans are 20–30 years.

Nanday conures (Aratinga nenday) have a distinctive black head, and wings and tails tipped with dark-blue feathers. They have a light-blue scarf and bright-orange feathers on their legs and around their vents. The maturity of a nanday can be told by the edges of its black hood; if the hood has a ragged edge of brown, then the bird is over a year old. Nandays are often extremely noisy; they are a heavily flock-oriented species, used to making their demands known, calling out warnings for the group, and calling to members of the group that are out of sight. They are also extremely social and intelligent birds, capable of learning tricks, mimicking sounds, and learning a decent vocabulary. At least one report suggests that they are highly adaptable to human encroachment on their territories, but the exact status of the species in the wild is unknown.

Flocks of nanday conures live wild in parts of Florida, notably the west coast, including areas of St. Petersburg and Clearwater. Additionally, flocks of wild Nanday conures live in Siesta Key, Sarasota, Florida. A large flock of nanday conures lives in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. They have been in the area for the past several years.

Golden-capped conures (Aratinga auricapillus)—also known as golden-capped parakeets—are native to Brazil and Paraguay. Their natural habitats include subtropical or tropical dry forest, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, dry savanna, and plantations. The existence of this conure is threatened by habitat loss. However, golden-capped conures are prolific breeders, making them popular birds in aviculture, and hand-fed young are generally available.

Golden-capped conures grow to about 13 to 14 inches in length and weigh about 150 grams. Their bodies are mainly green with blackish bills, gray feet, and brown irises. The forehead, the areas around the eyes, and underwing coverts are usually red. The breast feathers are a red and green mix. Their tail feathers are olive green with a bluish tip. The primary feathers, wing coverts, and under wing coverts are blue.

Immature golden-capped conures are mostly green, with some orange around the eyes, above the beak, and on the breast near the wings. Some navy is mixed in with the green of the tail. The birds' full colorations are not seen until they are sexually mature at about two years of age. Their lifespan is about 30 years.

Pyrrhura

A family of green-cheeked conures Green Cheeked Conure Family.jpeg
A family of green-cheeked conures

Pyrrhura is the other prominent genus of conures. These conures (with generally more green colors) include the very common green-cheeked conure, maroon-bellied conure, pearly conure, black-capped conure, painted conure, crimson-bellied conure, and a number of other species. They are usually smaller, have more subdued colors, and are much quieter than the Aratinga conures. Pyrrhura species are growing in popularity as pet birds, primarily due to their quiet nature (relative to comparable companion parrots), their affectionate and intelligent personalities, and the increasing number of color mutations developed in several of these species. Pyrrhura conures typically live around 20 or 25 years. To reach full maturity, many of them molt to rid themselves of feathers from previous growth stages, and occasionally, young birds pluck their feathers during the winter. These birds in captivity have been observed using their feathers to scratch themselves.

Psittacara

Until 2013, all Psittacara conures were part of the genus Aratinga. [3] Included here are common pet species such as the red-masked parakeet (or cherry-headed conure) and mitred parakeet.

Eupsittula

As with the Psittacara species, the parrots now contained within the genus Eupsittula - including the familiar orange-fronted parakeet (or half-moon conure) were included in Aratinga until 2013.

Golden conure

The golden conure or Queen of Bavaria conure, Guaruba guarouba (recently reclassified from Aratinga guarouba) is, as the name implies, covered all over with bright yellow feathers, except for the green wing-tip feathers and the greyish horn-colored beak. Golden conures are among the most expensive conures both to purchase and to care for, although many owners feel that the benefits outweigh the cost. It is one of the rarest conures in the wild in addition to the pet trade. Many experts believe that these birds should not be kept in captivity unless in a breeding program.

Patagonian conure

Patagonian conure, Cyanoliseus patagonus Patagonian conure.jpg
Patagonian conure, Cyanoliseus patagonus

The Patagonian conure, also known as the burrowing parrot, Cyanoliseus patagonus, is the largest conure. It is found in the Patagonia region of south-central Argentina and Chile. Drab on the top, brightly colored underneath, the Patagonian conure has increased in popularity since the 1990s, leading to an increase in illegal importation that threatens wild populations, but they are fairly commonly bred in captivity. Patagonian conures have a reputation for being exceptionally sweet-natured and intelligent, but can be very loud and destructive with their chewing. The greater Patagonian conure (C. p. bloxami or C. p. byroni) is the largest of all the conures. They can learn to talk and they usually bond very well with people, especially if hand-raised, and although not the most colorful bird, they make great pets.

Enicognathus

This genus comprises the austral conure, Enicognathus ferrugineus, which is native to the southern tip of South America and the slender-billed conure, E. leptorhynchus, endemic to Chile.

Golden-plumed conure

The golden-plumed conure, also called the golden-plumed parakeet, Leptosittaca branickii, is a small Andean conure not found in aviculture and endangered in its own habitat.

Yellow-eared conure

The exceedingly rare yellow-eared conure or Ognorhynchus icterotis of Colombia and Ecuador, was never common in aviculture and has not successfully bred in captivity.

Carolina parakeet

Conuropsis carolinensis, the Carolina parakeet, was one of only two parrot species endemic to the United States in recorded history. The Carolina parakeet was a remarkably social bird, living in vast flocks. American bird hunters reported that Carolina parakeets would return to mourn dead members of the flock, making themselves easy targets. Considered a pest, popular in the pet trade, and bearing plume feathers valued for hats, this species was hunted to extinction around the beginning of the 1900s.

Scientific classification

The word "conure" is an old term that originally described members of the no longer used genus Conurus, [4] which included members of Aratinga and Pyrrhura .

The parrot order, Psittaciformes, is a tangle of genera, many containing only one species. Parrots include about 353 species—generally grouped into two families - the Cacatuidae or cockatoos, and the Psittacidae or true parrots. The term parrot generally applies both to the entire order and to Psittacidae alone.

All members of the order Psittaciformes have a characteristic curved beak shape with the upper mandible having slight mobility in the joint with the skull and a generally erect stance. All parrots are zygodactyl—meaning they have four toes on each foot, two that face front and two that face back.

Conures and all other New World parrots are often placed in a subfamily or tribe Arinae. Internal relationships of conures are poorly understood, though it seems evident that to make them a natural grouping, the quaker parakeet, [5] the thick-billed parrot, and Brotogeris [6] should be included, and often are. Neotropical parrots, macaws, and other are also candidates potential for inclusion. In this scheme, "conure" comprises members of the genera:

Macaws:

The caiques and the hawk-headed parrot have also been proposed for inclusion, though both have a heavier build and different tail structure from traditional conures.

Non-native colonies

Conures are highly adaptable to urban environments, and several non-native colonies have been observed globally. The exact origins of such colonies are generally unverifiable.

Honolulu, Hawaii

A colony of cherry-headed conures lives around the slopes of Diamond Head. [7]

Seattle, Washington

A conure colony lives in Seward Park.

San Francisco, California

A colony of cherry-headed conures lives on Telegraph Hill, San Francisco. They are the subject of a film, The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill , based on a story by Mark Bittner. Flocks of conures can be seen and heard in many other areas of San Francisco such as the Tenderloin district. [8]

Santa Clara County, California

Multiple colonies of cherry-headed and/or mitred conures thrive in and around Santa Clara County. In particular Sunnyvale, [9] [10] [11] Cupertino (especially around the Apple Campus), [12] and Palo Alto. [8]

Los Angeles, California

Multiple colonies of cherry-headed conures live in the San Gabriel Valley (the suburbs northeast of Los Angeles). Subtropical U.S. cities such as Los Angeles are great environments for tropical birds because of all the tropical plants that are cultivated as ornamentals, providing them with their natural food supply. Flocks of 50 or more descend on fruit trees during their bearing season, staying for a few days and making a deafening racket. During mating season, they build nests in the palm trees that line many streets in the region.

Three species of conures (genus Aratinga) have formed non-native colonies in California. These are documented by the California Parrot Project in affiliation with the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, and in cooperation with the Pasadena Audubon Society.

Long Beach, California

A colony of half-moon conures has been observed in the Belmont Shore area of Long Beach, California, since the late 1980s.

Delray Beach, Florida

A least one wild pair of nandays has been spotted in downtown Delray Beach, Florida. The total number of birds in the colony is yet undetermined.

Quakers

The Quaker (which may or may not be a conure) can be found in many states. Quakers are also illegal to own in many US states, as they are known to build very large nests on powerlines (Quakers are the only parrots that build nests). [13]

In media

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carolina parakeet</span> Extinct species of parakeet native to North America

The Carolina parakeet, or Carolina conure, is an extinct species of small green neotropical parrot with a bright yellow head, reddish orange face, and pale beak that was native to the Eastern, Midwest, and Plains states of the United States. It was the only indigenous parrot within its range, as well as one of only three parrot species native to the United States. It was called puzzi la née or pot pot chee by the Seminole and kelinky in Chickasaw. Though formerly prevalent within its range, the bird had become rare by the middle of the 19th century. The last confirmed sighting in the wild was of the C. c. ludovicianus subspecies in 1910. The last known specimen, a male named Incas, perished in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918, and the species was declared extinct in 1939.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psittacidae</span> Family of birds

The family Psittacidae or holotropical parrots is one of three families of true parrots. It comprises the 12 species of subfamily Psittacinae and 169 of subfamily Arinae including several species that have gone extinct in recent centuries. Some of the most iconic birds in the world are represented here, such as the blue-and-yellow macaw among the New World parrots and the grey parrot among the Old World parrots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parakeet</span> Small to medium sized species of parrot

A parakeet is any one of many small to medium-sized species of parrot, in multiple genera, that generally has long tail feathers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-masked parakeet</span> Parrot native to Ecuador and Peru

The red-masked parakeet is a medium-sized parrot from Ecuador and Peru. It is popular as a pet and are better known in aviculture as the cherry-headed conure or the red-headed conure. They are also considered the best talkers of all the conures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue-crowned parakeet</span> Species of bird

The blue-crowned parakeet, blue-crowned conure, or sharp-tailed conure is a small green Neotropical parrot with a blue head and pale beak native to large parts of South America, from eastern Colombia in the north to northern Argentina in the south. They inhabit savanna-like habitats, woodland and forest margins, but avoid dense humid forest such as the Amazon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific parakeet</span> Species of bird

The Pacific parakeet, known as Pacific conure or Nicaraguan green conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in southern Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neotropical parrot</span> Subfamily of birds

The neotropical parrots or New World parrots comprise about 150 species in 32 genera found throughout South and Central America, Mexico, the Caribbean islands and (formerly) the southern United States. Among them are some of the most familiar and iconic parrots, including the blue and gold macaw, sun conure, and yellow-headed amazon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thick-billed parrot</span> Species of parrot formerly native to the U.S.

The thick-billed parrot is a medium-sized parrot endemic to Mexico that formerly ranged into the southwestern United States. Its position in parrot phylogeny is the subject of ongoing discussion; it is sometimes referred to as thick-billed macaw or thick-billed conure. In Mexico, it is locally called guacamaya ("macaw") or cotorra serrana. Classified internationally as Endangered through IUCN, the thick-billed parrot's decline has been central to multiple controversies over wildlife management. In 2018, the estimated wild population in Mexico was 1,700.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nanday parakeet</span> Species of bird

The nanday parakeet, also known as the black-hooded parakeet or nanday conure, is a medium-small, mostly green, Neotropical parrot native to continental South America.

<i>Aratinga</i> Genus of birds

Aratinga is a genus of South American conures. Most are predominantly green, although a few are predominantly yellow or orange. They are social and commonly seen in groups in the wild. In Brazil, the popular name of several species usually is jandaia, sometimes written as jandaya in the scientific form.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White-eyed parakeet</span> Species of bird

The white-eyed parakeet, known in aviculture as white-eyed conure, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in every mainland South American country except Chile and also on Trinidad.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dusky-headed parakeet</span> Species of bird

The dusky-headed parakeet, also known as Weddell's conure or dusky-headed conure in aviculture, is a small green Neotropical parrot with dusty grey head found in wooded habitats in the western Amazon basin of South America. Its range extends from southeastern Colombia south through eastern Ecuador, eastern Peru and southwest Amazonian Brazil, to central Bolivia. It prefers semiopen habitats such as várzea, forest edge, and forest remnants, but can also be found in coffee plantations. It is generally common and its habitat preference makes it less vulnerable than many other Amazonian species. Consequently, it is considered to be of least concern by BirdLife International and IUCN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maroon-bellied parakeet</span> Species of bird

The maroon-bellied parakeet is a small parrot found from southeastern Brazil to north-eastern Argentina, including eastern Paraguay and Uruguay. It is also known as the reddish-bellied parakeet, and in aviculture it is usually referred to as the maroon-bellied conure, reddish-bellied conure or brown-eared conure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black-capped parakeet</span> Species of bird

The black-capped parakeet, also known as the black-capped conure or rock conure in aviculture, is a parrot native to the south-western Amazon Basin and adjacent east Andean slopes in Peru, Bolivia and Brazil. It has a total length of approximately 25 cm. It is mostly green with off white scalloping on the hindneck and breast and red primary coverts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jandaya parakeet</span> Species of bird

The jandaya parakeet or jenday conure is a small Neotropical parrot with green wings and tail, reddish-orange body, yellow head and neck, orange cheeks, and black bill, native to wooded habitats in northeastern Brazil. It is a member of the Aratinga solstitialis complex of parakeets very closely related to, and possibly subspecies of the sun parakeet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mitred parakeet</span> Species of bird

The mitred parakeet, also known as the mitred conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is native to Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru. It has been introduced to Uruguay and is established there. There are also substantial populations in the US states of California and Florida and smaller numbers in Hawaii.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Red-throated parakeet</span> Species of bird

The red-throated parakeet, called red-throated conure in aviculture, is a species of bird in subfamily Arinae of the family Psittacidae, the African and New World parrots. It is found in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burrowing parrot</span> Species of parrot

The burrowing parrot, also known as the burrowing parakeet or the Patagonian conure, is a species of parrot native to Argentina and Chile. It belongs to the monotypic genus Cyanoliseus, with four subspecies that are currently recognized.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sun conure</span> Species of bfu ird

The sun conure, also known as the sun parakeet, is a medium-sized, vibrantly colored parrot native to northeastern South America. The adult male and female are similar in appearance, with black beaks, predominantly golden-yellow plumage, orange-flushed underparts and face, and green and blue-tipped wings and tails. Sun conures are very social birds, typically living in flocks. They form monogamous pairs for reproduction, and nest in palm cavities in the tropics. Sun conures mainly feed on fruits, flowers, berries, blossoms, seeds, nuts, and insects. Conures are commonly bred and kept in aviculture and may live up to 30 years. This species is currently threatened by loss of habitat and trapping for plumage or the pet trade. Sun conures are now listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arini (tribe)</span> Clade of birds

The Arini tribe of the neotropical parrots is a monophyletic clade of macaws and parakeets characterized by colorful plumage and long, tapering tails. They occur throughout Mexico, Central America, and South America, the Caribbean and the southern United States. One genus and several species are extinct; another genus is extinct in the wild. Two species are known only through subfossil remains. About a dozen hypothetical extinct species have been described, native to the Caribbean area. Among the Arini are some of the rarest birds in the world, such as Spix's macaw, which is extinct in the wild – fewer than 100 specimens survive in captivity. It also contains the largest flighted parrot in the world, the hyacinth macaw. Some species, such as the blue-and-yellow macaw and sun conure are popular pet parrots.

References

  1. Buhrman-Deever, Susannah C.; Hobson, Elizabeth A.; Hobson, Aaron D. (2008). "Individual recognition and selective response to contact calls in foraging brown-throated conures, Aratinga pertinax". Animal Behaviour. 76 (5): 1715–1725. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2008.08.007. S2CID   53165482.
  2. Forshaw, Joseph M.; Cooper, William T. (1978). Parrots of the World (2nd ed.). Melbourne Australia: Landsdowne Editions. ISBN   978-0-7018-0690-3.
  3. Remsen, Jr., J.V.; Schirtzinger, E.E.; Ferraroni, Anna; Silveira, Luís Fábio; & Wright, Timothy F. (24 April 2013). DNA-sequence data require revision of the parrot genus Aratinga (Aves: Psittacidae). Zootaxa 3641(3): 296–300. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.3641.3.9
  4. Newton, Alfred (1911). "Parrot"  . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 863–864.
  5. The quaker or monk parakeet is technically a conure by almost anybody's definition, but due to its popularity in aviculture and its uniqueness, it is generally considered in a category of its own.
  6. Brotogeris are not only often counted as conures, but also as parrotlets, and precisely to which one, or both, or neither, they belong is unclear. The tail structure is different from the parrotlets, though the basic body structure is the same in both groups.
  7. Dashefsky, Howard (9 May 2009). "Tracking Oahu's wild parrots – Hawaii News Now – KGMB and KHNL". Hawaii News Now. Archived from the original on 2016-04-20. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  8. 1 2 "Feral Parrot populations in San Francisco". fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us. 1998-03-12. Archived from the original on 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  9. "Cherry Heads Image". Conure Community. Archived from the original on September 5, 2014.
  10. Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : "Wild parrots of Sunnyvale". YouTube. 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  11. "GC1V23Z Wild Parrots of Sunnyvale (Traditional Cache) in California, United States created by GoGoJo". Geocaching.com. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  12. "Wild parrots in Cupertino. | Flickr – Photo Sharing!". Flickr. 2009-12-09. Retrieved 2015-02-14.
  13. Thrift, Anastasia (September 28, 2010). "Why Does The Quaker Parrot Get Such A Bad Rap?" (PDF). Bird Channel. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-04-12.
  14. "Paulie (1998)". Humane Hollywood. Retrieved 4 January 2023.