Conures

Two beautiful golden conures share a perch. Golden conures are one of many species that compose the diverse group of birds that are known as conures.

CONURES ARE DESCRIBED AS INTELLIGENT, BOISTEROUS, outgoing, clownish, and beautiful-characterizations that are true for each of the forty-two species that compose this group of Mexican and South and Central American parrots. Known primarily for their affectionate nature and loud voices, conures are great companions for people wanting birds who are eager to interact with their human families. Most conures can learn a few words, and patient owners may even be able to teach their birds to respond to a few simple commands.

What's a Conure?

Parrots are a diverse group of birds. There are more than 350 species of parrots, among them the group of birds called conures. The word conure may have come from the Greek words for cone, kone, and tail-bearing, ourus. For many years, most of these birds were placed in the genus Conurus, meaning "conical tail," and although this name is no longer used, it certainly led to the common name. Many scientific books on parrots refer to the conure species treated here as parakeets or parrots. The eighteen species in the Aratinga group of conures resemble little macaws and are even named accordingly: many of the macaws are in the genus Ara, so when you add the diminutive suffix "tinga," you have the equivalent of "little macaw."

Parrot Versus Parakeet

BEGINNING PARROT KEEPERS OFTEN BECOME FIXATED on the differences between a parrot and a parakeet. Although the word parakeet is widely applied to the budgerigar, a small Australian grass parrot, a parakeet is just a small parrot with a long tail that tapers to a point-the word has no real scientific meaning. All parrots, including those called parakeets, are members of the family Psittacidae. Lovebirds, conures, and macaws, among others, are also parrots, each a separate genus. The nine species of lovebirds, for example, occur in the single genus Agapornis, and conures belong mostly to the Aratinga and Pyrrhura genera. Most of the conures, with their long, tapered tails, fit the definition of parakeet, and some are called parakeets in major reference works.

Unlike certain parrots such as lovebirds and Amazons, conures do not fall into a natural grouping. Instead, they fall into two main genera (major groups of species), Aratinga and Pyrrhura, and a handful of related genera, Conuropsis, Cyanoliseus, Enicognathus, Guarouba, Nandayus, Leptosittaca, and Ognorhynchus, comprising a total of forty-two species. Both the Aratinga and Pyrrhura genera include species that are relatively small, generally just ten to fourteen inches long, and of slender build, with large, prominent beaks. The tail is long, about half the bird's total length. The cere, the strip of skin at the base of the upper beak that contains the nostrils, is usually narrow and naked, but it may be partially covered with facial feathers. The nostrils are always visible, not covered with feathers. Unlike some macaws, conures never have a strip of bare skin between the eye and the base of the beak.

Green is the predominant color in conures, although the little conures of the genus Pyrrhura generally have red on or beneath the tail and have grayish green breasts with dark or light feather edges. You may hear the Pyrrhura conures being called scaly, but that doesn't mean they have scales. The term scaly refers to how their feathers look-dark with light edges. When the feathers overlap, they form a scalloped pattern. Some other conures have startling colors, such as the large bright yellow golden conure (Guarouba guarouba), the orange and yellow (and green) sun conure (Aratinga solstitialis), and the multicolored large Patagonian conure (Cyanoliseus patagonus). Conures also have a distinct naked white ring around the eye called the periophthalmic ring.

The largely green coloring of this red-throoted conure (Aratinga rubritorquis) is a predominant characteristic of conures as a group. Colorful exceptions include the brightly hued sun and golden conures.

How Many Conures Are There?

HERE'S A LIST OF THE COMMON NAMES OF CONURES TO give you an idea of how many species each genera comprises and where they are commonly found. Natural color mutations occurring in the species are noted next to the name. The number of subspecies is noted as well-these are variations in the species that usually occur due to geographic differences. They are the same species but may vary slightly in their coloring or size. Note that the Conuropsis, the Carolina parakeet, is extinct.

   Aratinga (Texas to Argentina, West Indies): Blue-crowned-three to six subspecies (blue); brown-throated-fourteen subspecies (blue); cactus-two subspecies; cuban; dusky (blue, lutino); Finsch's; gold-capped-two subspecies; green-five subspecies; Hispaniolan-two subspecies; Jandaya; mitred-two subspecies; olive-throated-four subspecies; orange-fronted (half-moon)-three subspecies (blue); peach-fronted-two subspecies (blue); red-fronted-four subspecies (blue); red-masked; sun (pied); white-eyed-four subspecies

   Conuropsis (mid-North America to southern Mexico): Carolina-two subspecies (extinct)

   Cyanoliseus (southern South America): Patagonian-three subspecies (lutino, cinnamon)

   Enicognathus (southernmost South America): Austral-two subspecies; slender-billed

   Guarouba (Brazil): Golden

   Nandayus (Brazil to Argentina): Nanday (blue, cinnamon, lutino)

   Leptosittaca (Columbia to Peru): Golden-plumed (not kept regularly in captivity)

   Ognorhynchus (Columbia to Ecuador): Yellow-eared (the most endangered conure)

   Pyrrhura (Panama to Argentina): Black-capped-two subspecies (Voren strain); blue-throated; brown-breasted; el oro; fiery-shouldered-two subspecies; green-cheeked-five subspecies (yellow-sided, fallow, blue, cinnamon, pineapple); Hoffman's-two subspecies; marooned-bellied-four subspecies (lutino, cinnamon, pied); maroon-tailed-five subspecies; painted-seven to nine subspecies (pied, dilute); pearly-four subspecies; red-eared-two subspecies ; rose-crowned; Santa Marta; white-eared-five subspecies (dilute); white-necked

Conures in the Wild

As you might expect of a group with more than forty species in several genera, the habits of the varied conures are far from uniform. This section is a general introduction to how conures function in the wild, which includes characteristics that many of the species do share; you'll find the details of several interesting species later in the book.

Conure flocks are small, ranging from about five to one hundred individuals. They are noted for traveling quickly and erratically through the sky, emanating loud contact calls to keep in touch with each other. Even though the body color on most conures tends to be subdued, many (especially the scaly conures) have a distinctive pattern under their wings, which enables an observer below to identify them easily in flight. The subdued body color allows the birds to fade into the foliage of the trees or scrubland, where they make their homes. Like most other parrots, conures are active from about sunrise to sunset, when they may form large roosting flocks high in trees and disappear for the night.

The Carolina Parakeet

THE LAST NORTH AMERICAN PARROT WAS KNOWN AS the Carolina parakeet, but the bird was actually a conure. They looked quite similar to the jandaya conure and were indigenous to the southern states, including the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, and Texas, and were found as far north as Colorado. Because they were a nuisance, raiding farmers' fields, they were killed in large numbers. Their feathers were also prized, and when they became endangered scientists killed off the last of them for their skins. The last known captive Carolina parakeet died in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1918, although some wild Carolina parakeets were sighted until 1920, when a frost hit their habitat and wiped out the remaining few birds. The stuffed skin of that last Carolina parakeet can be seen in the Smithsonian Museum in Washington, D.C.

Where They Live

Nearly all conure species are tropical or subtropical parrots, although Patagonian conures and some others are found at the tip of South America in areas that have very severe winters. Most conures are found in and near tropical forests from Central America to Argentina, from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic. Several can be found in northern Mexico, including the green conure (Aratinga holochlora), who also seems to be a natural part of the United States fauna. These birds form large roosts near cities in southern Texas, where they can be found with escaped Amazons and other feral parrots who were introduced to the area as escaped pets. It's not clear if the green conures are native to the area or if they are released companion birds and their descendants. A few species of conures are found on the islands of the Caribbean, including one species each of Aratinga on Jamaica, Cuba, and Hispaniola (a different species on each island).

The subtle greens and blues of blue-crowned conures such as this...