The good, the bad, and the ugly on sun conures

[MissTee]

Great info!!!!!! I did not know all this getting my Mango ( Hehe another Mango. Very original. ) But I love her squawks and all. She is overall fun and loving. She is the pride and joy of my flock. But for those who do not like loudness this might not be the bird for you. As someone stated above if they are on your shoulder and squawk your ear goes deaf for 30 seconds or so. Overall an amazing, smart and great companion.

 

[Robin8888]

We have 1 sun conure now (we had 2 for about a little over a year).
Baby is our female we have had her for 15 years. She is my sons bird but I take care of her. My son has moved out but when he is here (several times a week) she wants him. She is not DNA'd we found out she was a female when she started laying eggs. WOW did that freak us out the 1st time. We got a male to see what would happen but the eggs were still infertile. The male started getting very aggressive to her & wouldn't let Baby eat at all. I caught him throwing all the food on the floor as soon as I filled the dish he wasn't letting her have any of it, so we had to rehome him. He is in a good home & I keep in touch with his new family.

Good: They are beautiful birds. For the most part Baby is very good. She does tricks for my son. Loves the shower. She is on our schedule & isn't noisy in the morning until the blinds are open. I do not cover any of my birds. She like to snuggle. She loves to have her head scratched. She is really quiet when she has eggs, which I leave for a few weeks or she will just lay more eggs.

Bad & Ugly: Yes she can get noisy & the pitch of her scream can be ear piercing. They can be messy. She is very attached to my son. She doesn't like my husband.
I agree they get attached to 1 person.

I love her but after trying to have 2 conures I would not do it again 1 is enough for me.
My profile picture is of Baby & Skittles.

 

[galah!]

I really wanted to get a sun conure, so went to listen to some and had a talk with a staff member. she said 3 sun conures had been returned in the last month because of complaints from neighbours about their noise. i live in the suburbs so won't be getting a sun conure any time soon

 

[Realgoneferby]

Sun conures are amazing birds! They are beautiful and smart, and fun! They are also extremely loud and have the tendency to be Velcro birds. My Miko is a perfect example of the typical Sun Conure; even though I don't believe there is a "typical" Sun.

The good: Miko is extremely loving and social, he loves being around me and my family and LOVES to be around people. He likes to hang (literally hang) on his cage or explore his area. He loves being on my shoulder and cuddles right under my ear whenever he is on my shoulder. He is essentially a big baby who loves love, play time, and attention. He can repeat a few words and sounds but does not have the capacity or the voice to say full sentences, and sometimes it's hard to make out what he is saying. Nonetheless, he is an amazingly smart bird that loves me and the rest of his flock. He is very much a Velcro bird, I went on vacation once with my husband and I put him in the care of my brother and when I got back my brother gave me the update. He was ok, he ate and drank, and relaxed with my brother out of the cage, but it was a hassle to get him to leave the cage. Mind you Miko is trained to step up on my finger even from inside the cage. Miko would not leave the cage unless cornered or forced. Once I got back home I explained to my parents birds 101 and told them it was a bad idea to do that because that builds mistrust and they apologized, but the hassle was there for them.

The bad: Miko has an extremely LOUD and SHRILL screech. I say screech because it can pierce ear drums and if he even THINKS I'm in the house he will scream for minutes at a time. The screams are so loud that one time I came home from work and as soon as I parked my car and got out, I heard him from my room (I live in the back of my parents house, in an efficiency). When I first meet Miko he was in a tiny cage at a breeders store by my house and he was just so cute that I needed him. I was already in the market for another bird and decided he was the one. No one warned me about the screams and after he got comfortable around me and my old lady cat, boy did he let loose lol I do not regret my decision, I stand by my purchase of him, but be warned. Anyone in the market for one of these birds MUST understand that they are LOUD, and their scream is very high pitched, and they do not get tired. Much like a baby.

The ugly: There is NOTHING ugly about these bird! They are beautiful clowns that need to be understood. If you are in the market for a bird and you are thinking about getting one of these precious cinnamon buns, you MUST do your research BEFORE you buy or rescue (PLEASE RESCUE, DON'T BUY!! Hypocritical. I know). Listen to YouTube videos of these birds screeching on a loop for 10 minutes every day for a week and see if you can put up with it. Make sure you understand that these birds live in flocks of 10 or more. They NEED to be around people, they NEED to be social. Make sure you have PLENTY of chew items because they really do loooove to put things in their mouths. Miko puts everything and anything he can get his feet around in his mouth and god-forbid you try to take it lol

 

[TWR]

I really wanted to get a sun conure, so went to listen to some and had a talk with a staff member. she said 3 sun conures had been returned in the last month because of complaints from neighbours about their noise. i live in the suburbs so won't be getting a sun conure any time soon

I live in a house in the suburbs of Sydney with my Sun Conure, Jenday and Hahns Macaw. Sun Conures are loud, but nowhere near as loud as the wild cockatoos that live in abundance in my suburb. My neighbours can't hear my Sun Conure, but they sure can hear the wild cockatoos. I agree with you on neighbour noise being an issue if you live in an apartment unit, townhouse or any dwelling with common walls - having a Sun Conure in that scenario wouldn't work. But in a freestanding house in Australia with wild tops surrounding you, I think it's more about whether or not YOU, and the people who live with you, can tolerate a sun's call.

 

[BrianB]

The good - They are absolutely beautiful birds.
The bad - Mine are messy. The male crawls into the food dish and roots around like a pig while making this grunting noise. Anything he doesn't like gets thrown out of the dish. .
The ugly - The noise. OMG the noise. They are so loud. If I walk into the the room they scream. When I feed them they scream. If I'm talking in another part of the house they scream. If I play music they scream. I work from home so it's a constant thing. What's funny is if I'm in the room and they start I can walk over to their cage and talk to them. I tell them to stop making all that noise and get back in the nest box and make me some pretty babies, and they go into the box and settle down. Usually long enough for me to leave the room. I knew they were the loudest of the conures, but honestly I might have taken a Macaw over this kind of screaming.

 

[NandayLover]

My Sun is my quietest Conure. Quieter than my Green Cheek even.

 

[NandayLover]

This description is why I try to advise people with certain conures not to also keep Eclectus. Imagine the results of an agressive conure towards a larger beak.

Yes! I know someone who had a lovebird and Nanday Conure killed by their female Eclectus. It also removed a Quaker Parrot's leg

 

[kiitick]

My sunny is wonderfully loud. I fell in love with their calls, I know some people find it terrible, but it's comforting to me to be able to hear him, and get a feel for him through it. I've found that I'm learning his needs through his different calls, and he's learning that screaming doesn't get me to come running, I usually whistle back and that helps a lot. He's really loud in the morning, and right before bed, he wants my whole family to come say goodnight, and once all 3 of us have, he quiets right down.

Zwei is very picky though! He'll take one bite, pick it up and throw it on the floor of his cage. I'm having to make him smoothies and throw pellets in it to get him to eat anything that's not his pellets. And don't get me started on the fact that he will only eat the colored pellets, the yellow banana shaped and the organic uncolored pellets get scooped right onto the floor. He also has no desire to eat seeds, millet, nuts, or anything that I thought would be a positive motivator, which is making training difficult.

He's currently "beaking" things to see if they're a threat, and so far, there have been no bites to report, because we're very gentle with him, and he's not showing any aggressive signs. I'm hoping that continues to be the case.

 

[TWR]

He also has no desire to eat seeds, millet, nuts, or anything that I thought would be a positive motivator, which is making training difficult.

. I'm having this issue too. He wasn't weaned onto seeds and so he doesn't recognise sunflower seeds as food, let alone as a treat. Therefore, they hold no value in training. Luckily, pine nuts and almonds are hit. Maybe you can give those a try. You may have to enthusiastically eat them yourself in front of him first, but since they are yummy, that's easy to do.

 

[DoubleTake]

My guys are pretty clingy, anything more than 5 feet away from me is too far. If they are not on me I can feel them keeping one eye on me. My male is a flirt with pretty women, I take my little flock to a local bird store on the weekends and Apollo will find a pretty lady to hop on, snuggle and give them kisses. As this is happening his mate and daughter just stare at him... like really? Eventually, they will both hop onto the person Apollo has chosen and hang out there for awhile, but the baby will get in between the person and her dad. They love to snuggle at night and in the morning but when I am home during the day, they would rather have me sit on the couch and watch them play with their toys or play under a blanket between my legs. Watching them take baths brings a smile to my face and they also love taking baths in my hand when in the shower. They just seem so happy in the water.

As far as food goes, I haven't found anything they won't eat. I'll introduce something new and before I can even give it to them all 3 of them are climbing around their cage in excitement, making noise and rushing to their food bowl to try it.

They are pretty territorial of their cage and sleeping area(cat box) with other people or visiting pets. They are perfectly fine with me invading their space, even when eggs are present. As for the noise, they have gotten a lot better staying quiet, but can be very loud at times. I have an IP camera pointed at them so during the day when I am at work I can hear them calling out to see if I am home every 3 hours or so. They will call out for about 2 mins and give up after they don't hear a response. Having 3 suns can be a handful at times, the baby and dad always fighting for position on my shoulder/arm. The level of noise these guys can bring when "something is wrong" is crazy loud, I'm just glad my neighbors haven't complained yet. The walls are very well insulated.

 

[tasha1986]

this describes mango to a T, she loves only me, she will bite anyone other than my partner and even then its iffy. ive only had her a few days and tbh i fell in love with her the first time i saw her at the pet shop, i begged my OH to get her lol. she loves to eat sunflower seeds, grapes and oranges, very picky with everything else. she doesnt like me typing on the keyboard for the pc, she stands on my hands and walks around on them till i stop. she loves snuggles esp at night before bedtime she will lie on me and snuggle up to my neck lol.

 

[Yeah_Birbs]

I’ve been to a store with a couple of sun conures and let me tell you, they are like living car alarms

 

[Farlie]

I’ve been to a store with a couple of sun conures and let me tell you, they are like living car alarms

are you saying that these guys are LOUD?

 

[Yeah_Birbs]

Yes. Very VERY LOUD. THEY WERE LOUDER THAN THE GCC.

 

[Yabiwheeler]

I am still pretty new to being a sun conure owner but here is the good bad and ugly I've seen

I got Frankie from my local rescue he is estimated to be 5 years old and full of personality.

Ugly: The screaming when someone comes home, when he gets up in the morning or ready for bed at night he will scream an ear piercing scream I'm sure at this point all my neighbors know about him. He also screams when he is running low on food or water. He screams when something is happening that he doesnt approve of like my son (9 months old) banging his hands or something against the coffee table or floor.

Bad: Frankie is showing he will be a one person bird. If I come over he is sweet and puts on a show and talks up a storm but my husband comes over and he screams at him. He wants nothing to do with my husband and is happy with just me.

Good: Frankie is a character! He is hilarious I come home and of course I have to say hi to him he will start talking to me to let him out. He says a large variety of things but he will only talk to me. He wouldnt talk to his foster mom (at the rescue) and he wont talk to my husband. When he has his fits over something he will yell at himself "frankie stop" he says bless you when you sneeze but if you fake it he will cuss you out haha he knows the difference. He also knows his bedtime and if he isnt covered by them he will let you know it. Once hes covered he will also mumble in russian for a few minutes I'm assuming to tell you off for taking so long haha. He is scared of hands since before he was toweled to get out of his cage once hes out hes lovely but getting him out is the fight. I refuse to towel him to get home out and we are really making progress he now takes treats from my hands and isnt scared when I put them in his cage to clean or switch things out. He might be the loudest bird I have ever owned but definitely has the most personality and I cant wait till he fully trust me.

 

[shadoweon]

I've had my sun conure for 13 years so far and in my experience:

Good: Loyal, likes to spend time with me while I do other things and loves to sit on one of the kitchen chairs while I eat. He more often than not warns before he bites (by opening his beak at you), unlike my late but very loved Quaker. While his decibel level is loud, he doesn't often make his full squawk/scream unless calling for me or if he sees a vaccum cleaner (he hates those).
Usually just makes little soft squawks that aren't even noticeable if you're not in the room with him. Seems to enjoy car rides. Great flyer, can fly up and down stairs on his own without getting hurt. He's one of the most intelligent pets i've had as well. Not an escape artist type. When he wants to interact with you, he's very gentle. While very limited, he can say a couple words (and mimic coughs lol) Healthy and sturdy.

Bad: Not cuddly, I see most sun conures described as cuddly but he is definitely not ,hes a sit with you kinda bird more than he is a bird for touching. I can pet him when hes in the mood (and always when hes coming back from the vet, I think he needs comforting). Only I can pet him though, no one else. Very jumpy as he's grown up. He doesn't freak out easily but he gets startled by any sudden noise like ripping paper, closing a cabinet less than softly,etc. He can't handle being away from me for long periods without being seriously unhappy, making trips difficult. Picky with food- won't convert to all pellet diet, won't eat natural type pellets. Throws what he doesnt want out of his bowl. He is pretty messy- throws stuff out of his cage quite often even when its not food.

Ugly: Cage aggressive and territorial. Dive bombs people who enter my room if he's out on top of his cage unless its me. Fights with towels and blankets. You can't perch him directly in his cage or he will bite you, you have to offer him his food bowl or something else to sit on- OR wait for him to fly to you of his own accord. He seems to be one of those birds that doesn't like people the opposite gender of his owner for some reason. He doesn't like other animals, bird or not. He either tolerates them or dive bombs them. Sometimes very random objects make him get upset. For example, one time I crinkled a water bottle and he bit my ear!

Overall though,despite his weird little triggers of all the pets that i've had (multiple budgies, a cockatiel, 2 dogs, a rat,a guniea pig, a rabbit and a quaker parrot) he is one of the simplest to care for. He really just wants to spend time with you and have a little treat every now and then and he's happy.