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Green-cheeked Conure

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Green-cheeked Conure

Yellow-sided Green-cheeked Conure

Family: Psittacidae

Pyrrhura molinaePhoto � Animal-World: Courtesy David Brough

Latest Reader Comment - See More

I have a gorgeous GCC that is now about just under a year old. He's become the whole families favourite pet. Whenever you walk past his cage he bobs up and down and... (more) Amy

"Pooki" is just about four months old and he is so darn playful,... he can't wait to be let out of his cage!

Contents

Scientific Name:
Subspecies:
Distribution:
Description:
Size - Weight:
Care and feeding:
Social Behaviors:
Activities:
Breeding/Reproduction:
Potential Problems:
Availability:

Â Â "Pooki" has all the wonderful characteristics of the popular Green-cheeked Conures. They are quite smart little birds, and come up with very creative solutions to a variety of situations. For example, often times Pookie just can't wait another minute for his good morning, so often times he simply lets himself out of his cage!

His new home is with a young girl who is "graduating" from cockatiels to a bit bigger bird. Both she and Pooki are very excited about getting to know each other and getting to play with each other!

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

Scientific Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Psittaciformes
Family: Psittacidae
Genus: Pyrrhura
Species: molinae

The Green Cheeked Conure

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Exotic Birds: Green Cheeked Conure

Learn About Green Cheeked Conure - as part of the expert series by GeoBeats.

Dr. Jungle's YouTube Channel - Birds

Scientific Name:Pyrrhura molinae

Subspecies:

Green-cheeked Conure
Pyrrhura molinae molinae
Argentina Conure
Pyrrhura molinae australis
Santa Cruz Conure
Pyrrhura molinae restricta
Yellow-sided Conure
Pyrrhura molinae hypoxantha
Pyrrhura molinae sordida
Pyrrhura molinae phoenicura

Distribution:
These birds are native to Bolivia.

Description:
The Green-cheeked has coloring very similar to the Maroon-bellied Conure, but can be distinguished by the reddish upper surface of its' tail feathers. It has a green body with blue primary flight feathers and a maroon tail. The scallop feathers on the chest and upper neck are fringed with white. There is purple on the belly and the beak and the ear covers are brown.

Size - Weight:
These birds grow to a length of 10 1/2" (26.2 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 seeds, nuts, fruits, 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:
These birds tame very easily and are very sociable. The Pyrrhuras are a quieter conure than the Aratinga species making them an easier pet to live with. However, they are not known to be great talkers. In the wild they are very sociable with other green-cheeks. Often they forage in groups and spend the night sleeping together.

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

Breeding/Reproduction:
The sex of the Green-cheeked Conure is undeterminable by appearance, though an immature bird will have duller pulmage than the adult, darker irises, and less maroonish coloring on there abdomen. These birds reach sexual maturity around two years of age. The hen will usually lay between four to six eggs, and the incubation period averages 22 - 25 days.The average clutch is 4–6 eggs. Average incubation is 24 days, varying from 22 to 25 days. They are not too fussy about their nesting box but can use a box about 7" x 7".

Potential Problems:
This bird is not nearly as noisy as most Aratinga species.
See About Conures: Potential Problems for more information.

Availability: This bird is generally available.

Author: Clarice Brough, CAS

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Amy - 2009-04-08
I have a gorgeous GCC that is now about just under a year old. He's become the whole families favourite pet. Whenever you walk past his cage he bobs up and down and tries desperately to try and fly to you even tho he can't lol. He dances to whistling and makes a variety of sounds, he loves it when we take him outside and he can listen to the bell birds in the wild. He has grown very attached to the women in our family and 'defends' them from anyone coming too close by, puffing up his chest. He loves to help out with household chores, e.g. sitting down your top with his head poking out while you are ironing or doing the dishes. He loves to have a snuggle with my mum and our cat when night time comes around, the cat is like his idol, he worships him! He makes little cooing noises when he's falling asleep and will gladly sleep on anyone. He enjoys sitting at the door of his cage and throwing corn out onto the floor and LOVEs eating twisties (well not so much eating but chewing into tiny crumbs) He's the light of our lives!

ooooooooof - 2020-04-16
They are. They contain salt, which is a food that birds should NEVER have. They are also processed, which is plain bad to begin with. Feed them one only once in a while, but it's better to never give It to them. Other foods that birds can't have include avocado, coffee, and chocolate.
Mark Richardsons - 2020-02-17
Wow and i thought my green cheeked yellow sideed conure was the only one that loves twisties , i hope there not bad for him her ,

Anonymous - 2017-08-10
We are going on a cross country trip that could last up to 2 weeks. We want to take our Pineapple Cheeked Conure with us because she bites everyone else & would be hard to care for. Do they travel in a car well? We have a smaller cage for travel, like to the vet, etc.

mike - 2019-11-09
I make a 3 hour trip one way each week (so 6 total per week) and mine sits on my shoulder the entire way, although he is used to it after doing it so long. my suggestion would be just put him in the travel cage and cover the cage with a sheet or something light, most birds travel just fine this way.

T - 2007-10-09
I find it impossible to read all the wonderful things posted here about GCC. My GCC is 3 months old and was hand tamed/hand fed by a local breeder. When he first came home he was nippy, but showed some promise. Now he is by far the biggest disappointment I have ever had. I have owned cockatiels, parakeets, canaries, etc. and was so excited about getting a small parrot. I have never met a more nasty, hateful creature. I have bites everywhere and can not touch him without a suite of armour. I would never recommend a GCC to anyone (especially around children)unless one enjoys being brutalized daily. He wants to be on you from the time you open the cage and then immediately bites, rips and tears at flesh (arms, fingers, anything). No friend in this beast. Have tried every recommendation onine for curbing the biting and it only gets worse. Will never make such a horrid mistake again.

Anonymous - 2014-09-24
Sounds to me like he was somehow traumatized early on by you or someone around you. Yours is the first case I've seen bad things said about them. Definitely don't rule them out in the future after one bad experience because they really are such sweet and affectionate birds if raised properly.
brit - 2014-11-21
This is shocking to me. the GCC is so lovable! We rescued on from a home where she got no interaction. She was fearful and bit when we first got her home. We were patient and spent lots of time talking to her. Then it clicked in her.. Loves to be with us (me, husband and 2 children) all day. Never another bite ever!
Lisa Paige Deadmond Roth - 2015-02-04
It makes me sad that you see your bird this way...my green cheek was abused by his former owners. When I got him he was very angry and bit a lot. I have scars from those bites. With love and patience he has become the joy of my life. Sometimes he still bites, but only when he is feeling trapped or frightened. He is phobic because of the abuse he suffered, they used to swat him out of the air with a broom instead of getting his wings clipped. He is afraid of the dark, dogs and anything with a long handle that resembles a broom ie, rake, shovel...you get the picture. It has taken a long time and a LOT of patience to make my little buddy less hostile, but the reward has been more than worth it.
Christina - 2015-02-10
Don't worry it will pass. Distract him with few toys such as bells. Right now he sees a hand as an enemy, for him to get used to it give him treats so he sees the hand = treats. What I remember is that I dipped my finger into not so harsh chilli mix and when my gcc attaxked he had a weird taste in his mouth and after that he didn't bite ^^ but do not ever put something harsh like tobasco as it will damage the tongue ^^
Bob - 2015-08-29
You seem to not be the type of person who should be owning birds
Beverly - 2019-06-19
I am so sorry that you are having such a hard time with your gcc. Please do not paint the whole breed with the brush of your bad experience. We have had 2 gcc for a year and a half now they were also hand fed and tame. Recently our male started biting my husband quite bad so we did some online research. We discovered that Boomer our little boy had been frightened by sliding when trying to sit on our hands. He became afraid of skin contact. We have been working with him very slowly to help him become more secure and he is doing better but can still get nippy. We are taking it very very slow. Once your parrot has been traumatized they never ever forget that trauma. Remember how big you are compared to them gaining their trust takes time and regaining their trust after it is broken takes so much longer. We never imagined that a simple slip and almost fall off our hand would cause so much fear in Boomer. I hope that you stop looking for answers online to fix your bird and instead look for a rescue home for your bird. There are lots of shelters that will take birds in and work with them or even just give them a forever home. Your bird can feel your anger probably even more than I could when I read your post. The reason that your gcc always wanted to be on you is because they are very social bird and they want to be with their human all the time especially if they do not have a bird companion. My birds have each other plus they are out of the cage with the run of the house for at least 8 hours a day. They are alot of work and they do not understand that just because they want to be on you 24/7 you may not want the same thing. Stick with the easy birds parrots are not for you. You need to have patience saying the bird is the problem after having him for less than 3 months is ridiculous. B
K - 2021-08-21
LOL we also have a bird like this. He is sweet and seriously psycho. You never know and he can turn on you in a heartbeat.

Amber Wolff - 2017-10-03
Help me heal my lonely, broken heart. Hey all, is anyone out there looking to find a loving home for their bird? My conure died a while back and my heart is still broken. I also used to have an African grey quite some time ago. I'm trying to find another birdie in need of a forever home. I'm open to different types of parrots. I have so much love to give to a birdie friend, lots of time and a safe, healthy, happy home to live and shoulder to sit on often. If anyone is located close to Montana, I would be able to drive a ways if it meant giving a home to a feathered friend in need of adoption. I can't afford to pay for traveling expenses and a bird though. If you're looking to find an amazing home for your beloved bird, I can assure you that I can provide that, plus all the love in the world. My email is amberlkwolff@gmail.com

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Kalie Arruda - 2017-09-03
Need to sell my green cheek conure 'Petrie' he hatched in November 2016. I feel horrible that I don't have time to tend to him like i thought. I have bonded with him and almost sold him to someone but I didnt know anything about where/what my bird would be going to. I just need to find more info on who can buy him that is an experienced bird owner so I can feel at piece about failing him. I would just need some proof if possible that the people who want to buy him have a decent area for him and that they will take the time to work with him and love him. Thanks.

Amber Wolff - 2017-10-03
Hey hon, are you still looking for a loving home for your little Petrie? My conure died a while back and my heart is still broken. I'm trying to find another birdie in need of a forever home. I have so much love to give to a birdie friend, lots of time and a safe, healthy, happy home to live and shoulder to sit on often. Where are you located? If close to Montana, I would be able to drive a ways if it meant giving a home to a feathered friend in need of adoption. I can't afford to pay for traveling expenses and the bird though. If you're looking to find an amazing home for your beloved bird, I can assure you that I can provide that plus all the love in the world. My email is amberlkwolff@gmail.com
Barb - 2021-05-11
I would need to know what the fee is to have him.. I ave a female concur that can't have babies but she is a clown and I love her. I am with her everyday all day long. I am fighting cancer and need to have birds too help me get thru each day

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Green-cheeked Conure

Yellow-sided Green-cheeked Conure

"Pooki" is just about four months old and he is so darn playful,... he can't wait to be let out of his cage!

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

Green-cheeked Conure

Yellow-sided Green-cheeked Conure

"Pooki" is just about four months old and he is so darn playful,... he can't wait to be let out of his cage!

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

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