The scream of the aratinga conure

[SirTango]

Okay. I don't have a conure of the aratinga variety. I do have a green cheek who is shockingly quiet even for his species, which is great for living in an appartment. At the same, I hoped he would be a bit loud because it's just too quiet here.

Over the last few months I have found myself going to YouTube to listen to the scream of sun conures and jendays because, honestly, I am drawn to it. I like the way their voices sound. I'm even kind of relaxed when I hear a large group of them screaming their beautiful heads off.

That being said, I don't have a loud conure and I have never heard their call in person. I need advice from owners of aratingas. I am VERY drawn to them and dream of having my own sun of jenday in the future. Am I the only crazy person who actually likes the way they sound??

 

[Ark]

I like the way my Jenday sounds when he's screaming for joy. The big thing with aratingas is that you have to be mindful that neighbors and/or family might not feel the same way you do about their noise level. Their voices are loud enough that anyone sharing a wall or living close by will likely be able to hear them. If neighbors aren't an issue and you think you could handle the noise, definitely try to meet some in person! Youtube doesn't really give you the full experience of the noise they're capable of making.

 

[Applebutter]

Interesting. If Aratinga screaming relaxes you than they must be the bird for you! I personally think Jendays might even be a bit louder than Suns. They are nice parrots and pretty too if you don't mind the noise, your family doesn't mind the noise and you don't have close neighbors to worry about.

I have Aratingas and I love them. I find they tend to be kind of one person birds, my Jenday hates everyone but me and is not afraid to show it!

 

[Applebutter]

Btw: I have close neighbors but my neighbors are louder than my birds, so no matter. It depends on what kind of neighborhood you live in as well...mine is a free for all.

 

[SirTango]

I currently live in a very nice apartment, though I certainly won't bring a loud bird into this place. My husband wears noise canceling headphones most of the time and my brother doesn't care. I don't think they would mind much. And if they do, we will be living in a house and I can build an aviary for the birds to hang out in during good weather.

Sun conures have most of my attention because they are so beautiful and seem to have wonderful personalities. My green cheek is a one person bird and he often chases people away from me and will act sweet to others and then bite them. Hard! I fear that he would do that to another bird. He would tease my parakeets but he never attacked them.

I hope I can get the opportunity to spend time around one and hear their scream in all its glory.

 

[Ark]

Most definitely meet some in person if your living situation would allow for a loud bird! I'm very partial to aratinga conures... my Jenday is the most outgoing, friendly bird I've ever met. He's at least 4 and absolutely loves everyone. He's so hand tame and sweet that he could be a therapy bird... if not for that loud voice! My Nanday is more of a one-person bird, but even he is coming around to letting strangers scratch his head. It's very much an individual thing if they're one-person or friendly, and things can always change with time. I'd be a little bit concerned with your green cheek being a one person bird. Aratingas are larger and their beaks could potentially hurt a smaller conure that is defending their person (and GCC are notorious for not backing down from a fight with larger birds). If you add a sun or jenday, I would be careful in making sure your GCC comes "first" in all interactions to help with potential jealousy issues. Of course, it's always a gamble... sometimes birds love each other, are indifferent, or hate each other, no matter what we do, so you have to plan for contingencies.

 

[TWR]

I have a Sun Conure and a Jenday. Their calls do not bother me in the slightest. My husband (not a bird person) has never complained about my aratinga's calls either - although he has been known to complain about the budgies constant chatter lol.

I definitely think my Hahns Macaw's call is louder and is a less pleasant sound - but her call doesn't bother me at all either. All I mean is that if I had to give a preference as to which call I liked better, I would choose to listen to my Aratinga's call over my Hahns Macaw.

Do try to visit some in person to hear their sound up close and personal. It all depends on an individual's tolerance for both the pitch and volume. Some people just can't handle an Aratinga's call. Personality wise, my sun conure is just the perfect bird for me.

 

[Jaguar]

Sun conures have most of my attention because they are so beautiful and seem to have wonderful personalities. My green cheek is a one person bird and he often chases people away from me and will act sweet to others and then bite them. Hard! I fear that he would do that to another bird. He would tease my parakeets but he never attacked them.

Conures are monogamous, that is pretty typical. I wouldn't expect a sun to be much different.

Noise tolerance depends on individuals. Puffy's screaming annoys me far less than the cockatiels'.

 

[Animallover03]

I would recommend going to a rescue to meet some if you are interested. There are usually lots in rescues

 

[SirTango]

Rescuing one is the only way I want to get one. There are a lot of them in shelters because of people buying them for their beauty and quickly realizing they are loud. I adopted my green cheek from a woman on craigslist who couldn't spend enough time with him. He's such a love! He really seems happy that I got him out of there. His life before I got him wasnt bad, he was just really lonely.

Unfortunately, there aren't any rescues nearby. So craigslist is the only way I can get one in this area. There is only one place I know of that might have sun conures and that is a local bird store. But it's family owned and the birds they have change all the time. There is a sulphur created cockatoo that lives there and the first time I went, the cockatoo has in spring hormones so I got to feel the power of a cockatoos scream. Man are they loud!!! I could feel my ear drums rattling, but it didn't hurt my ears. It was a wierd feeling to say the least.

Moving on. I worry that my green cheek would be an instigator and end up hurting the other bird or getting himself hurt. Some of you may be familiar with Amanda(who has tons of super educational parrot videos on youtube) and her green cheek, Rio and jenday, Tuki. They HATE each other and it's all Amanda can do to keep them to seriously injuring each other. On top of that, Tuki has aggression problems that result in plenty of bites for everyone she is around. I realize that their situation is the worst possible result of getting another bird. Then I look at people who have multiple birds who tolerate each other, with a pair of two who are bonded, and I'm blown away by how different they behave! It's such a gamble! There would almost certainly be blood shed if the future sun was a one person bird too.

 

[TWR]

Some are lucky to have birds that get along, but it is a gamble. When getting a 2nd bird, you need to be prepared that you may need to always have separate out of cage time for both.

 

[SirTango]

I'm fortunate that I work from home so Tango is always out of his cage and he has stations around the apartment where he can perch and he a part of my daily activities.

Assuming that they will hate each other, the only way I could see having a second bird that can live the same way is to have both birds clipped, but even that may not work if either of them learn how to climb up the cages. However, I have a Prevue Hyndrx cage for Tango and the skert around the bottom is practically impossible for a small bird to climb up. I hate the idea of clipping though. Tango is a great flier and he enjoys flying around. It also gives me piece of mind that when something spooks him, he can get himself into a safe place instead of the floor. But if he turns out to be the one to start something, then he might need to be clipped.

Having them both on me at the same time could result in any one of us being bitten. I've also heard of people who have birds that get jealous and become agressive towards their favorite human for not being the center of attention. Tango is a demaning little bird and gets grumpy when I don't spend more than 3 hours with him one on one. He lets me know he is upset by rejecting head scratches and being beaky and rough in general. Such a sassy little thing. Haha!

 

[nm0710]

I have a BCC.. it really isn't THAT bad. When she sounds off though, she sounds like a car alarm. Luckily Zazu isn't a very loud bird. Don't get me wrong, it isn't anything like a GCC. It is loud? Yes but, I think it is tolerable.