If you saw the movie, Pauly, then you have already been exposed to a few of the species of paarrots known as conures, and you are one up on the average person. I know, I never heard of conures until a few years ago. Now I have learned a lot about them, enough to know that inside those little bird bodies are the "big parrot" attitudes with personality to spare!
I know conures gained in popularity in recent years, both as breeders and as family pets. This upswing is due to several factors. First, their personalityies. In general, conures have a very appealing affectionate personality: devoted to their owners and willing to endear themselves by learning innumerable tasks, from talking to simple tricks. In addition to this, the sheer variety and colorful plumage of the conures as a genus of parrot has also contributed to their popularity. Factor in the small to medium size of the birds and you have a combination that is really tough to beat.
As far as available genera, conures come in the following catgories: Aratinga, Nandayus, Pyrrhura, Enicognathus and Cyanoliseus. The most common and most readily accessible of these come from the Aratinga & Nandayus groups, followed by the Pyrrhuras. And...although the predominant color of most conures is green, let me assure you: if you are interested, you can find brilliantly colored birds in almost any color of the spectrum with the conure species. Jendays, Nandays, Suns, Maroon-bellied, Painteds, Patagonians, Green-cheeked, Peach-fronted, Duskies, Blue-Crowned, Cherry-headed...... do I have to go on? I don't think I do. But!!!! Before move on, let me remind you: buy a domestic bred,(preferably hand fed) bird.
While many people will tell you that conures, ALL CONURES are destructive to wood, scream incessantly and become aggressive, like the old song says, this ain't necessarily true. I will admit that most types of conures have predisposition to loud vocalizations, (& let's face it folks, all parrots love a good scream :-) don't they) and wood chewing behaviors, it is all in how you raise your little
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