Animal-World > Birds > Conures > Sun Conure

Sun Conure

Family: Psittacidae"Oscar"Aratinga solstitialisPhoto © Animal-World: Courtesy Becca Edmonds

   When the Sun Conure is fully mature and has all its coloring it is gorgeous, but even juveniles are extremely pretty!

Widget Photo Courtesy: David Brough

  "Widget" is an exceptional Sun Conure. He loves to do tricks with his owner and is very playful and affectionate.

   Sometimes "Widget" sleeps, or plays "dead bird" in his owners hand. He loves to hang out and he is free to fly about, but when he's ready for a break he always goes back to his cage. "Widget" is fun to be with, fun to play with and fun to look at!

For more information about the care of Conures see:
Guide to a Happy, Healthy Conure

Scientific Name: Aratinga solstitialis

Distribution:
   These birds are native to Guianas to northwestern Brazil.

Description:
   The Sun Conure, a small member of the parrot family, is one of the most colorful of the conures. Their nice personalities and their gorgeous coloring make them a favorite pet. There are a variety of conures, and most make excellent pets. They vary in coloring and size, the Nanday Conure, for example, is a larger conure with a black head and green body. For a smaller bird and a great pet, a conure is a great choice.

Size - Weight:
   These birds get up to 12" (30 cm).

Care and feeding:
   A roomy cage is required unless the bird is to be let out for extended periods. Many birds can spend most of their time on a play pen or parrot perch. They eat a variety of sprouts, seeds, nuts, fruits, vegetables, and commercial pellets, as well as the same nutritional foods humans eat.

   See About Conures: Housing and About Conures: Care and Feeding for more information.

Social Behaviors:
   They live in pairs or small groups of 10 to 20 birds. They love to play, and can be fairly destructive if not watched. They can also be rather noisy. Despite all this, they make a real fun pet and are very popular.

Activities:  Loves to climb and play. Provide lots of toys.

Thorn Photo Courtesy: Kristy "Thorn" is a real good example of color variations that conures can have within one species. He is very yellow, and this is after his very first full molt! ...Kristy

Breeding/Reproduction:
   They breed readily if they have the right size aviary. The hen lays four eggs which are incubated for about 26 days. The young fledge (leave the nest) after about 8 weeks. The nest box size should be 12" x 12" x 12".

Potential Problems:    As with most Aratinga species, this bird can be noisy.
   See About Conures: Potential Problems for information on illnesses.

Availability:
  This bird is generally available. They can usually be found at pet stores and reputable breeders.

Author: Clarice Brough, CAS

Lastest Comments on Sun Conure View all 81 comments on Sun Conure Add Your Comment

Shelie - 2012-04-27 Last August a Sun Conure just appeared on a perch in our front yard. We live in Idaho, so this is very unusual. My husband approached the perch, talked to the bird and he came right to him, up his arm onto his shoulder. We live in a pretty small town and we let everyone we could think of know that we had this bird. We still have not received any response. However, in the meantime, we have totally fallen in love with the bird. His name is Buster but we wonder if his name s/b Bronco. As he says 'Bronco' all of the time. At first he loved us both, but in the past 3 months, he has decided I am ok if my husband is not home, but if my husband IS home he wants to attack me. We took him and had his wings clipped so that he could no longer fly to me and attack me. It has not calmed his attitude, but at least he can't get to me. I love this crazy little bird and I take care of it most of the time, feeding, cleaning up after, providing lots of treats, but I am not the chosen one at this time. I hope this gets better, but if not, I will just accept it as it is. We think someone may have released him and we have no idea how old he is. All I can say is he is loved and we are happy to make room in our life for him. Oh, and we are taking him on his first camping trip this weekend. We have a large 5th wheel and an extra cage. Wish us luck. Reply

rande wood - 2012-01-02 Hello. I have a beautiful three year old male conure, named Baby. I completely adore him but am at a loss of what to do about his biting problem. He only likes/loves me and my 78 year-old mother and bites everyone else if he gets a chance. Recently, he has been biting me. Today he bit me on my face. I am thinking that I have spoiled him. I cook him food twice a day and have pellets and snacks available for him daily. If I am not giving him my undivided attention, he bites me. I am away, at work, ten hours a day and five days a week however, my mother keeps him when I am at work. Baby does not bite my mother. Any help will be greatly appreciated. I am so sad about this and don't know what to do. Thanks, Rande. Charlie Roche - 2012-01-02 I doubt you have spoiled him - too much and if you have - so be it. You little fella is going into puberty at that age. Conures are great with everyone - everyone that is a part of THEIR FAMILY. If there was you and your mom and 5 children, the conure would be great with all. If you took Baby everywhere you went and introduced him from a young age to ALL PEOPLE, then chances are he would be good with all people. I am going to assume you have a male as a male can get protective/aggressive during puberty. Never fear it goes away. He will try and make sure that all others are away from you. He is saying 'hey you belong to me'. It's close to that time of year they would normally be picking their mates now and breeding season would sart in the spring. If they can't bite what is making them aggravated or jealous - they will frequently displace and bite the person they love. Pain in the rear but true. First - he will probably outgrow it but you should help him along. They can not bite if you hold their beak closed and say a big 'NO' that is essentially what their mate would be doing. I had one female that picked up a rawhide doggy bone and hit her mate in the head with it. Hysterical. You need to stop the biting. Big 'NO' If he is on your arm and tries to bite, rotate your arm and 'NO' as they can't keep balance and bite at the same time. Big noise - paper slammed on table and 'NO' A trainer told me to yell 'Jail' and put the bird in the bath tub (no water) and turn out the lights and close the door and count to 60. I thought she was nuts (honest) but I did it. The third time I yelled 'Jail' my little guy just shook like a dog throwing off water but he did not bite again. The idea is to STOP IT but gently and I think just holding the beak and 'NO' should work. Then give him a kiss on the beak or top of the head and a 'Luv you' rande wood - 2012-02-25 Charlie, thanks for the advice. Makes sense. Can't wait to try the jail thing. This cracks me up! Also grabbing his beak....this will be fast and easy. Also great to hear that he will age out of this. So thanks so much for so much good information. Rande. Anonymous - 2012-04-22 Give him to your mother, as she can spend more time with him Reply

Karly - 2012-02-08 I have a sun conure 8 months old that screams a lot. I know they need attention but sometimes even when my daughter just play with him. I don't know what to do. My husband is very upset because the noise. Screams a lot all the time. Do you have a problem like that? Can you tell me what to do? Thank you Charlie Roche - 2012-02-08 Conures are extremely social beings in the wild and in the home. The 'scream' to make sure that all their flock is 'OK'. Unfortunately for you - all you humans are the flock. Usually, all you have to do is respond back. Hey OK or whatever you wish to see. Be right back. If you think of the conure as a 3 year old feathered child, it will get easier. If you leave a 3 year old in the kitchen by themselves and DISSAPEAR - panic ensues - that is what this little guy is seeing. Much of it he will outgrow as soon as he realizes that you leave and come back. Much of it, you will have to respond to by 'hey I'm here' and most of it you will get through training. Conures don't normally just yell. They are expressive. Maybe they want their head pet, maybe they want on your shoulder - they are velcro birds and need to be a part of the family. You will find that they can essentially be loose in the home and will return to cage or perch to potty. They just want to be with you. As soon as you learn to obey and to reasure your little guy that you haven't abondoned him and he gets a little closer to a year old - it will settle. I do not clip my conures wings as I have found over the years they just love to go from person to person for attention and will fly to all members of the family. Much disagreement on whether to clip or not. I have never had a problem without clipping a birds wings but I had one die because she wanted to come to me and fell and broke her back. So my birds are free flight but all except the conures walk. They climb down and walk. The conures fly to all memebers of the home and then settle. bird lover - 2012-04-22 I have a conure that screams when I'm not touching him. I usually will cover him with a blanket but know I don't know what to do. Reply

Neil - 2012-04-20 Hi everyone, I am considering getting a sun conure as a pet. Although I have experiense in keeping budgies and cockatiels they were in an aviary and were hands off, so the conure would be my first tame bird. Are they suitable first time birds? I also wondered how much out of cage time they need a day? I'm not sure if I can provide enough time when I work an 8-6 job. Would a few hours in the evening be enough time for the bird or not? Thanks Charlie Roche - 2012-04-21 OK mine (conure named Billie) is in a 2 foot deep by 3 foot wide and 5 feet high. He has a little door he can come out of and go to the perch on the top of the cage. When I am out of the house, I close his little door just to make sure he is safe, otherwise he is out. I have had several (some have gotten marrried and now are having children) and they were all totally housebroken. So during the day they would hang out on my shoulder, hang from my sweater etc and fly back to their cage or perch when they had to go potty. I would also train them to go on Kleenex so I could take them out and just carry kleenex in my handbag. They need the room cuz they are active and like to play. Without the toys, room, radio, TV - they can get bored and can be prone to plucking. They are a real easy, fun parrot to have with lots of affection. Babies should be available now as breeding season is usually March. Charlie Roche - 2012-04-20 Conures are an excellent first companion bird. They are very active, very playful and pretty much a velcro bird in that they want to be on you all the time. Make sure you have a large cage for this little guy and make sure he has plenty (lots) of toys, swings, things to chew up and play with during the day and all should be well. If you can leave the TV on for him (honest) to some cartoon channel - even better. Or music. One thing - make sure you can hold this fella, cuddle, kiss his beak, pet him, put him under your chin etc before you buy him. Don't let some breeder tell you that the bird will be tame when you get him home. The bird should be 1000% tame when you purchase him. Best to purchase directly from a breeder. Excellent first bird - or even only pet. Yes, sometimes they will get a little loud but if you learn to understand them (and obey) that should be minimal. Yes, evenings and weekends - fine - just lots of stuff to play with. Neil - 2012-04-20 Thank you for your reply Charlie, I will surely keep in mind about the bird needing to be tame from the start. What sort of dimentions would you recommend for the cage? Reply

Sarah - 2005-05-17 my name is sarah and i have 4 sun conures. the first was rico about a 3 year old male conure i purchased from another family. he doesn't talk but laughs when he hears someone else's laugh. he loves to snuggle and be under the covers with me. shortly after rico i bought cheeky, she was 4 months at the time, from a breeder at the flea market who has been breeding birds of all kinds for about 30 years. she loves to play alot hanging upside down all the time. i think she likes the head rush and the reaction she gets. also the chewinest thing i ever seen!!! buttons or beads on your shirt are cracked or pulled off in minutes!!!. and though i never wear earings she still loves to nibble my ears. kisses are her trademark. this was all back in november last year. now i just bought 2 more conures, not sexed yet, and i haven't decided on names yet. not as friendly as rico and cheeky but still seem to be very good birds. a little training and lots of love and patients and i am sure to have a big happy family :) Reply

denise G - 2006-09-30 Hi. We have a Sun Conure named "Picasso." He is quite the alarm, as he makes noise whenever someone opens our front door or another door in the house. He loves pizza crust, peanuts, papaya and also waffles. He loves to cuddle in his blankie on my husband's lap. He will mimic a "sneeze" and also bobs his head when we hum or sing certain songs. We also found out if we leave his blanket cover off his cage til 11pm, he will sleep longer in the morning. It wasn't fun having his "bird alarm" going off at 7:30am when we first got him. Picasso was adopted after the family of 2 young daughters decided they didn't have enough time to spend with him. Reply

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