“Ah! You live with a green-cheeked conure… he’s a little parrot, that can’t be too demanding!”
People who dare to make this sort of assertion have certainly never met a green-cheeked conure in their life! It is enough to spend some time with this parrot, to understand the complexity of this little creature.
Green Cheeked Conure is all at the same time: incredibly cute, charming, affectionate, energetic, curious, intelligent, interactive, loud, messy, vindictive, and stubborn.
Who on earth can boast of having all these qualifiers?
General description
Green Cheeked Conure
Green Cheeked Conure ( Pyrrhura molinae ), is almost entirely green. It has bronze on the chest, red on the base of the abdomen and tail as well as blue on the flight feathers.
He also has a black area on his head. And most surprisingly, her cheeks are green ( I bet you didn’t know it! ). Like all other conure species, “green cheeks” have a bare ring of feathers around the eye ( periophthalmic ring ) and a long, tapered tail.
It is a bird native to South America. It is more precisely found in Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina. It measures approximately 26cm ( from the top of the head to the end of the tail ) and its weight is approximately 70 grams. Its life expectancy in captivity can be up to 30 years.
In the wild, it is a bird that lives in forests and is usually seen in large flocks at the top of trees. It is not uncommon to see groups of twenty or more. They feed mainly on seeds, berries, fruits, nuts, various vegetation, and insects.
Physical description
From the height of 26 cm, the green cheeked conure weighs around 80 grams.
Their plumage displays various colors but remains generally green, in particular at the level of the cheeks, hence their name. The back and the top of the wings are dark green, very intense.
Their chest has characteristic scales of brown, golden, or even bright red color. The diets are intense blue to turquoise and the tail red to burgundy.
Their head is more or less greyish with areas of black on the forehead. The crown, nape, beak and legs are usually black in color. Their eyes feature small white, featherless eye-rings, a common feature of conures, and their irises are brown.
Green cheeked conure lifespan
Conures generally live between 20 and 25 years on average, up to 30 years.
Green cheeked conure colors
Mutations and their variations are very numerous! To name a few: cinnamon, opaline, turquoise, cinnamon turquoise, opaline turquoise… A mutation is a genetic modification visible from birth.
Some examples and details to differentiate them from the wild phenotype:
- cinnamon mutation: the head is white/very light brown
- opaline mutation: increase in the red color in the belly
- Pineapple mutation: also called “cinnamon opaline” because the bird’s head is light and its belly is red
- turquoise mutation: the bird is no longer green but blue, there is no red on the belly
- opaline turquoise mutation: compared to the turquoise mutation, the bird is blue but has a little red on the belly
- cinnamon turquoise mutation: the mutation is also called “silver”; the plumage of the bird is predominantly light with slightly blue wings
- Blue pineapple mutation: The mutation is also called “turquoise cinnamon opaline“; It is a pineapple boom with a little red color on the belly
- lutino mutation: the conure is all yellow with red eyes
- misty mutation: the conure has darker plumage than the other conures
- dilute mutation: the plumage of the bird is pastel with brighter colored wings,
- suncheek mutation: it combines both opaline, cinnamon, and diluent… The bird has a red tail and torso but a pale head, yellow sides, and greenish-yellow wings
- mint mutation: it is a combination of turquoise and dilute mutations; the bird is water mint color…
Temperament
Green-cheeked conures are affectionate little beings, who usually like to snuggle up in the palm of their hand or neck. They sneak up everywhere: in our sleeves, in our sweaters, under our blankets, they like to feel our presence near them. This personality trait makes them very endearing.
They are loyal and devoted to their favorite humans. They are cuddly little birds who do not need to be asked for long to come and give kisses.
Conures are known to easily lie on their backs in their human hands. These are birds that will love to sleep in small tents designed specifically for this purpose.
Living with a small conure is a bit like living with a young child. Children can be curious, energetic, loud, and always where they shouldn’t be doing what they shouldn’t be doing.
If you give them the chance, conures will act the same way. Of their curious nature, you must always watch them, try to predict before them what they are going to intend to do.
They have the annoying habit of wanting to explore things they shouldn’t go near. They are often too adventurous and it can be risky for them.
green cheeked conure talking the time to explore your home and identify what could be dangerous for a little beak eager to chew. Beware of electric wires, still hot stove rings, the toilet bowl, cleaning products not stored, cushions and blankets in which he could hide, poisonous plants, etc.
Energetic by nature, they have a great need to move. They are skilled climbers and avid chewers. A conure, despite its small size, needs a large cage to be able to expend its energy as it pleases.
He must also have plenty of toys nearby to shred, and a set-up that allows him to quench his thirst for climbing. You also need to plan a lot of time out of its cage to allow it to stretch its wings. Without all of this, the conure will get bored and unwanted behaviors, such as screaming and biting, will appear.
green cheeked conure bird
The green cheeked conure is a gregarious bird that needs to feel accepted by its group. He is a very interactive bird, he always wants to be a part of the action, no matter what activity is going on.
“Ah! Nice we cook! Ah! Nice we do the housework! Ah! Nice we play Monopoly!” Anything, really anything, can interest him! The more you include him in the daily activities of the house, the happier and more emotionally sound he will be.
Beneath its clownish appearance, the green-cheeked conure is a very intelligent bird that needs both physical and mental stimulation.
To keep him from getting bored, we must constantly find activities that will stimulate him. Conures excel at games of emptying and refilling toy boxes.
green cheeked conure can also learn a few tricks, such as saying “Hello” and “Goodbye” by raising their paw and imitating the snowblower by advancing quickly towards us with the spout glued to the table.
At rest, the green-cheeked conure may look like a harmless little angel, but don’t be fooled! Once rested, you might be dealing with a bird stubborn and narrow-minded who thinks he can scare the Doberman from home.
In their minds, conures think of themselves as the most powerful parrots in the world, and I would even go so far as to say of the entire animal kingdom. We should find a way to remind them that on the scale they barely weigh 70 grams!
Green Cheeked Conure also has a bad reputation for being messy. Conures love to clean their cage by shredding fruit, veg, and paper from the bottom and pushing it all out of the cage onto our floors and walls.
Also, being skilled climbers who like to walk from bar to bar of the cage, I can bet you that the latter will quickly be soiled with droppings and leftover food.
But when you expect it, it’s always less bad! Paradoxically, they are very self-contained! The majority of conures love to bathe in anything that looks like water!
On the vocal side, they are known to be quite noisy relative to their size. Noise cannot be compared to what a macaw or cockatoo can make, but it can still bother more than one. The decibel level will grow exponentially with the number of conures we have.
Despite all these characteristics, it would seem that the genus Pyrrhura, which includes the green-cheeked conure, is more tranquil in nature than the genus Aratinga ( another very widespread subspecies of the conure family )… A chance!
What is it like to live with a Green Cheek – Guide to Green Cheek Conure Behavior
SOURCE: Guide to Green Cheek Conures
Green cheeked conure Habitat
They are native to South America, they are found in particular in Brazil, Bolivia, and Argentina. The six subspecies are distributed as follows:
- Green cheeked conures (Pyrrhura molinae) in the primary forests of eastern Bolivia
- Green cheeked conures (Pyrrhura flavoptera) in Bolivia
- Green cheeked conures (Pyrrhura phoenicura) in the central-western state of Mato Grosso in Brazil and in the northeast of Bolivia.
- Green cheeked conures (Pyrrhura sordida) (the hypoxantha form occurs naturally within this subspecies) in southeastern Mato Grosso.
- Green cheeked conures (Pyrrhura restricta) in the regions of Palmaito and Chiquitos in Bolivia.
- Green cheeked conures (Pyrrhura australis) in northeastern Argentina.
Green cheeked conure behavior
In the wild, this gregarious species lives mainly in forests in fairly large groups. It is not uncommon to see groups of more than twenty individuals at the top of trees.
It would seem that green cheeked conures prefer dense forests but can be found in a variety of settings such as open habitats like cities and countryside.
In captivity, this species is known to be very affectionate, playful, intelligent, and energetic. She is very expressive and curious, although some individuals have a very assertive personality.
It is a very versatile, happy, fearless bird that requires time and varied interactions. It is interesting, even necessary, to “set limits” in terms of socialization and education so as not to be overtaken by this little parrot.
Green cheeked conure Diet
In the wild, conures feed on seeds, berries, fruits, flower nectar, and other various vegetation.
In captivity, the types of diets are varied: seeds, extrudates, fruits, and vegetables…
Green cheeked conure Breeding
The breeding season is in spring. Quite territorial, it is best to isolate pairs for the breeding season. Conures lay between 3 and 6 eggs, one every two days. Incubation lasts between 21 and 23 days.
The female alone can start hatching from the second or third egg laid. The young will leave the nest around 6 weeks of age and will be fully weaned around 8-9 weeks. Sexual maturity is between one and two years.
Conclusion
Often thought of as the next step for someone desiring to have a large parrot, the green-cheeked conure possesses all of the personality of the large parrot but is compacted into a small body.
“In the small jars, the best ointments!”, Could proclaim wholeheartedly, as a slogan, a peaceful community of conures! They have so much to offer, they are interactive, fun, intelligent, and demanding, that in the end after adopting a conure,
you come to say to yourself, that you don’t need a conure. biggest parrot! To Toutie, I will never forget the moments we shared, I wish you were with me longer!
Green Cheek Conure Parrot – What they are like – Baby GCC
SOURCE: BMSWEB
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