My Green Cheek / Sun Conure Hybrid and my Grandson

[Playette6977]

Well it was the last thing I expected considering I was told they both were males when I bought them. Let alone I thought they were not able to have babies!! I have a Green Cheek male and a Sun Conure female

 

[expressmailtome]

If one parent is a sun conure, and the other is a green cheek, then your baby is a hybrid and not any pure species.

Matt

 

[webchirp]

Keep a good eye on him and vet regularly. They have been known to have medical issues. I know someone who tried to breed them and most of them eventually passed away. It was very sad.

 

[Bokkapooh]

You allowed them to breed? What are you doing to prevent future clutches?

Conure hybrids tend to always die in the juvenile stage. Most don't make it to adulthood and those few that I have heard that have tend to be very sickly.

 

[Applebutter]

I have a Sun-Jenday hybrid but they both of the aratinga species. Is that sort of mix that you have healthy?

When I was looking for info on the Sun, Jenday cross I believe I ran across the type of hybrid that you have and they were called Sun Cheeks if I remember correctly.

 

[JosienBB]

Unfortunately, pyrrhura-aratinga conure hybrids don't have a very high survival rate, and even if they survive a few years, are prone to overall health problems. You will have to keep a close eye on this little one, and like @webchirp said, regular vet visits.

 

[JosienBB]

I wanted to add, there is actually a mutation named "sun cheek," but this is a pure green cheek conure mutation and not a hybrid. It's the American dilute/yellow-sided/cinnamon mutation combination.

 

[Applebutter]

I was wrong then, thanks for the correction! I know I had seen the term sun cheek somewhere and it seemed to fit whoops! I must have been on a site with GCC mutation colors!

 

[gibsongrrrl]

Just wanted to say welcome to AA. Cute birds you have. Must have been quite the surprise! If you want to keep eggs from hatching in the future, you can replace any layed with fake eggs like the ones from dummyeggs.com or shake or boil the eggs to keep them from hatching. Not a good idea to just remove them because they will just keep laying and that is hard on their bodies. There is lots of good info here. Hope you enjoy the forum

 

[Monica]

Green cheek x sun conure hybrids (and other Pyrrhura x Large Conure hybrids) are becoming more common. Chicks are often born with foot deformities, have high chick mortality rates, may die at a young age (i.e. under a year old) from cancer or other health issues. I don't know what the oldest such hybrid is, so I couldn't give you any idea of a potential lifespan!

I've been gathering pictures of various hybrids, and have some in a group together. This includes quite a few conure hybrids!

Flickr: The Hybrid Parrots Pool


As far as a name? There's no "official" name for such a hybrid, and since "sun cheek" is already used to describe a mutation of green cheek conures, it's ill advised to use it to describe the hybrid. Honestly, you could call it whatever you want! And either it sticks, or it doesn't! The hybrid names really don't mean much.


Your birds look gorgeous! I hope your baby hybrid lives a long life, an that you try to prevent any future offspring!

 

[alcmene]

Even though Green Cheeks and Suns are both called "conures" it's actually a misnomer. They are not only different species, but are actually in completely different genuses.

Sun conures belong to the genus of parrots called Aratingas. Some other commonly seen Aratinga conures are Jendays and Nandays. Green Cheek Conures belong to the genus Pyrrhura. Some other commonly seen Pyrrhura species are Crimson Bellied and Maroon Bellied conures.

The 2 types of birds aren't closely related, despite sharing the name "conure." The word "conure" doesn't actually mean anything. It's a word that aviculturists made up. In scientific papers, they're all referred to as "parakeets-"which is a very generic therm that just means "small parrot." In aviculture the word "parakeet" tends to be used for a particular species of bird (which the proper name of is budgerigar, or budgies).

Producing hybrid offspring of parrots in the same genus is both easy and usually successful because the birds are so closely genetically related. That's why you see so many types of hybrid macaws. In conures, a common hybrid is a Sunday (a sun x jenday mix).

However, producing babies from species in different genuses doesn't usually work out very well because their parents aren't sufficiently closely genetically related enough to produce healthy offspring. Genetically, a Green Cheek (family: Psittacidae, genus: pyrrhura) crossed with a Sun (family: Psittacidae, genus: aratinga) is equivalent to trying to cross a human being (family: Hominidae, genus: homo) with a chimpanzee (family: Hominidae, genus: pan). Not good.

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but almost all of these inter-genus crosses die at a young age, and the ones that do live past infancy are generally plagued with health problems. Your little guy is adorable, and i hope very much that he beats the odds and makes it.

As for your part, you need to do everything possible to keep your Green Cheek and Sun from breeding again. It's unethical to allow them to continue to produce babies that will all die horrible deaths due to genetic abnormalities.

 

[Monica]

Sunday is Sun x Jenday

Nansun is Sun x Nanday

 

[alcmene]

oops. Thanks. I'll fix it. (It's actually kind of irrelevant though since all of the hybrids have made up names anyway. We could call them Flying Purple People Eaters and it would be just as vaild

 

[rosalita]

If one parent is a sun conure, and the other is a green cheek, then your baby is a hybrid and not any pure species.

Matt

that is so racists.

 

[Mizzely]

that is so racists.

Huh? Hybrid is the correct biological term for a cross between two taxonomically distinct species.

 

[Donna turner]

Racist, really. I hope you're kidding.

 

[Mv birdhea]

So whats the update on the baby ?

 

[Gokha]

Apparently it’s a very old thread I’m really curious to know how’s the baby

 

[expressmailtome]

So whats the update on the baby ?

This member has not logged in for five years.

 

[Mv birdhea]

Thanks @expressmailtome