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Need Advice!! My IRN is mounting my Sun Conure??

Katyo91

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Hi everyone! ...So i posted this in another forum but wanted to increase my odds of hearing good feedback so would LOVE to hear back from the AA crew! :)

Okay so I guess I better give some background. I adopted my birds almost 6 months ago. I have a male indian ringneck parakeet (about 2.5 years old) and a sun conure (sex unknown..was presumed to be male..possibly a little older maybe 3 years old). The lady at the rescue said that they had grown up together, were bonded, and had always shared a cage (it's a large cage no worries with space!)
. They are very cordial with each other --groom daily, share food and water, and snuggle together at night...sure there is occasional bickering but nothing to be worried about aggressive-wise. Anyway, recently i've been noticing my IRN male being very "forward" with my sun conure. He's gotten to the point where sometimes he tries to mount my sun conure. (!?) Now I know that they are 2 different species and cant copulate. But...should I be concerned about this behavior? My IRN had gotten his ring about 2 months ago....is it maybe just a big hormonal wave coming through that may go away? He's always trying to get my sun's behavior displaying the usual IRN heart shaped body form with eyes pinning and making clicking noises. Yesterday I saw them regurging. Maybe my sun conure is a girl afterall.. He/she doesnt seem to mind at all (has always been the snuggly type).

All i wanted was some advice or insight? It's just very awkward and weird to me right now... :confused:
 

Mizzely

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It is normal for a bonded pair (regardless of genders) to engage in sexual activity. Unless it results in egg laying that doesn't stop, I'd let them do what they want.
 

Bokkapooh

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Sounds pretty normal. Just watch for fightng. Many people have had birds grow up together, caged together even, and in the end the fighting got severe and they had to be seperated. Please watch out for fighting. Any food hogging behaviors or water protecting needs to be addressed ASAP with the separation of the birds.
 

Vegemite

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Think you got probs? Hows this. My lovebird uses my IRN as a surf/skate board. LOL. I just let them be as long as neither is aggressive and they are not hurting each other.
 
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CheekyBeaks

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IRNs tend have a very strong drive to breed once mature. I would suggest you make sure your birds are on a low energy maintenance diet (little to no corn, banana, seeds, and high carbohydrate foods like pasta etc...) to help reduce hormonal surges. As long as there are no other behaviours such as aggression I wouldn't be too concerned though.
 
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Gypsy

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I would have both birds DNA sexed for peace of mind that breeding was not possible. If you do have both sexes, I would love to see a yellow IRN. Lol.
 

Mizzely

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I would have both birds DNA sexed for peace of mind that breeding was not possible. If you do have both sexes, I would love to see a yellow IRN. Lol.

I agree I'd get the sun conure DNA'd so that you know if egg laying is a possibility, but I do not believe conures and asiatic ring necks can hybridize. I could be wrong!
 

Gypsy

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Why couldn't the two birds create a hybridized baby? I have seen on the news a cross between a donkey and a zebra. Other birds have hybridized. I have seen a cross between a macaw with another type of bird but cannot remember which. Anything is possible if there is a will.
 

Juliette

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Why couldn't the two birds create a hybridized baby? I have seen on the news a cross between a donkey and a zebra. Other birds have hybridized. I have seen a cross between a macaw with another type of bird but cannot remember which. Anything is possible if there is a will.
now i am wondedring , what i have heard is that they cant ,
unless they are the same species , but different subspecies can , for example 2 different macaws , B&G and a greenwing , they are both macaws , but different subspecies
 

Gypsy

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The hybrid that comes to mind is green macaw, possibly military, with another bird but not another macaw. The hybrid had blue green head but no red. I will have to do some research.
 

BradG

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Simply: He's horny. When Ringies come of age (and the Sunnie has been with him for most of their lives) -- um, well, I think you get the point :hehe:
Maybe they could create a Ringsun, or a Sunring, or a Sunneck, or a Necksun.. a Conring.. a Neckcon.. OK, I'll stop now

I wouldn't necessarily worry about it. However, I believe parrots should be with their own species. It makes them so much happier :dancing:. After all, they have no choice when we control their environment.
:hug8:
 

Mizzely

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Certain animals are close enough to hybridize. Macaws and conures are quite closely related so they can crossbreed. But a macaw and a cockatoo, for example, are too far removed to do so.

One way to look at it is this: humans and chimps are both from the same subfamily: Homininae. But the chromosomes don't match up in a way that we can actually reproduce offspring together.

Parrots are all part of the same overarching family, and some can combine genetic material, but many cannot.
 

BradG

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Certain animals are close enough to hybridize. Macaws and conures are quite closely related so they can crossbreed. But a macaw and a cockatoo, for example, are too far removed to do so.

One way to look at it is this: humans and chimps are both from the same subfamily: Homininae. But the chromosomes don't match up in a way that we can actually reproduce offspring together.

Parrots are all part of the same overarching family, and some can combine genetic material, but many cannot.
Interesting, but in this case I have a hard time believing a parrot from India and a parrot from South/Central America could possibly reproduce viable offspring. Millions of years have separated them since Pangaea. But, I could be wrong. Strange things can happen in the genetic pool of life :huh:

Interesting conversation.....
 

Gypsy

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Well I decided to do some research on hybridized parrots. On Peggy's Parrot Place website there are pics of a hy x blue and gold macaw, a cross of a cockatiel x Galah, and a hy x scarlet macaw. On cityparrots.com was a bluefront x orange wing.
 
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Mizzely

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Interesting, but in this case I have a hard time believing a parrot from India and a parrot from South/Central America could possibly reproduce viable offspring. Millions of years have separated them since Pangaea. But, I could be wrong. Strange things can happen in the genetic pool of life :huh:
Interesting conversation.....
Correct. I am sure they cannot reproduce.
 

Mizzely

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Well I decided to do some research on hybridized parrots. On Peggy's Parrot Place website there are pics of a hy x blue and gold macaw, a cross of a cockatiel x Galah, and a hy x scarlet macaw. On cityparrots.com was a bluefront x orange wing.

Those are all very closely related species, though. A conure and a ringneck are quite far apart on the family tree.
 

Gypsy

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Seriously, I flunked genetics in high school biology. Lol. So please explain why it is not possible. I really want to know.
 

Mizzely

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I'll do my best @Gypsy

In one of your examples, you used a hyacinth x blue and gold macaw. Taxonomically, a hyacinth is:

Order: Psittaciformes
Superfamily: Psittacoidea
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Arinae
Tribe: Arini
Genus: Anodorhynchus
Species: A. hyacinthinus
Binomial name: Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus

A blue and gold is:

Order: Psittaciformes
Superfamily: Psittacoidea
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Arinae
Tribe: Arini
Genus: Ara
Species: A. ararauna
Binomial name: Ara ararauna

Now, they are both still MACAWS, even though their genus is separated. The Subfamily Arinae refers to Neotropical parrots from South America. Within this Subfamily is also the conures. A sun conure is, for example:

Order: Psittaciformes
Superfamily: Psittacoidea
Family: Psittacidae
Subfamily: Arinae
Tribe: Arini
Genus: Aratinga
Species: A. solstitialis
Binomial name: Aratinga solstitialis

So see how a hyacinth and a sun conure are both only one small step away from each other (separated by genus). Let's now look at an Indian Ringneck:

Order: Psittaciformes
Superfamily: Psittacoidea
Family: Psittaculidae
Subfamily: Psittaculinae
Tribe: Psittaculini
Genus: Psittacula
Species: P. krameri
Binomial name: Psittacula krameri

The Ringnecks split off on the parrot family tree starting at Family. That is 4 steps removed from the sun conure, where the hyacinth and blue and gold are just one step removed.

This is true of other animals if you look, with some even closer related. Tigers x Lion are only separated at the species level (they are both from the Genus Panthera; Lion is Panthera leo, a tiger is Panthera tigris.) A zebra is Equus zebra while a Horse is Equus ferus. A dog is Canis lupus familiaris while a wolf is Canis lupus.

So, a sun conure and indian ringneck are simply not related close enough to be able to hybridize. A conure and a ringnneck are as closely related as you are to these gibbons:

 
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