Conures are a loosely-defined group of large, new world parakeets. They are loosely-defined in that they do not currently constitute a natural, sceintific grouping as all species of macaw are closely related and can be seen as conures by descent too.

The word "conure" is an old term and was originally used as a descriptive name for the members of the now-abondened genus Conurus, which included the members of Aratinga and Pyrrhura. The name conure is usually replaced among laymen and in children's books by "parrot" or "parakeet."

Contents

1 General 2 Aviculture 3 Conure Species 3.1 Aratinga 3.2 Pyrrhura 3.3 Nanday Conure 3.4 Golden Conure 3.5 Patagonian Conure 3.6 Enicognathus 3.7 Golden-Plumed Conure 3.8 Yellow-Eared Conure 3.9 Carolina Parakeet 4 Relationships

General

Conures are essentially large parakeets, the western hemisphere's version of the old world's ringneck parakeets or the Australian parakeets . With the exception of the now extinct Conuropsis carolinensis or Carolina Parakeet all conures species are found in Central and South America. Conures despite being large for parakeets, are lightly built with long tails and small (but strong) beaks. Conure beaks always have a small cere and are usually horn colored or black.

Trying to characterize all conures would, for the most part be like trying to chareterize all African Parrots including the African Greys and the Senegals. Yet most conures prefer to live in flocks of greater than 20, and they enjoy eating grain, an action which causes them to be shot in some countries.

Aviculture

Conures are a very popular group of parrots in aviculture, and due to the popular label as "parrot" or "parakeet," people may assume that they're getting a little macaw or a large budgie.

The most popular conure by far has to be the Quaker parakeet, a bird which is generally not sold or listed as a conure, despite a consensus on them being one. After that the sun conures and Nanday conures are both also very popular, as are many of the Pyrrhura and the Jenday.

One of the first questions that many people ask about parrots of any is "can they talk?" Although conures are not as good at talking as say African Grey Parrots or Amazons, many conures can learn to talk quite well, although it depends on the individual bird.

What generally attracts aviculturical enthusists to conures, though, is their personality. Very intellegent, hyperactive, playful, affectional, and often noisy birds, they provide what most people are looking for in a large parrot without the problems associated with size . . . except in the noise department.

Conure Species

Conures as the term is used by aviculturists include only the genuses Aratinga and Pyrrhura, as well as several single single species genera and on double species genus*. These other genera are listed below:

• Conuropsis: Carolina Parakeet (extinct)
  • Cyanoliseus: Patagonian Conure
  • Enicognathus: Austral and Slender-Billed Conures
• Guarouba: Golden or Queen Of Bavaria Conure
• Leptosittaca: Golden Plumed Conure
• Nandayus: Nanday Conure
• Ognorhynchus: Yellow-Eared Conure

Aratinga

Latin for "little macaw," the Aratinga conures generally seem to have a more mischevious personality than the real little macaws or mini macaws. The Aratinga conures are generally larger with brighter plumage, and are generally the noiser, more outgoing, more demanding of the two primary conure genera. The sun conure and Jenday conure are among the species of conures more commonly kept as pets.

See also Aratinga

Pyrrhura

The generally greenish Pyrrhura conures including the very common green-cheeked conure are the other large genus of counres. Usually smaller, duller colored, and quiter of than the Aratinga conures, the Pyrrhura conures contain almost every conure species with a hyphen in the name, and the majority of Pyrrhura species names are hyphenated.

See also Pyrrhura

Nanday Conure

The Nanday conure, Nadayus nenday is the most commonly kept pet conure species outside of the two main genera. Nanday conures have a distinctive black head, and wings and tails tipped with dark blue feathers. They have a light-blue scarf, and bright orange feathers on their legs. Although often said to be extremely noisy, they are also extremely intelligent birds, capable of learning tricks, mimicking sounds, and learning a small vocabulary.

Golden Conure

The Golden conure or Queen of Bavaria Conure, Guarouba guarouba (recently reclassified from Aratinga guarouba) is, as the name implies, a covored all over with bright yellow feathers, except for the green wing-tip feathers, and the greyish-horn colored beak. Golden conures are also among the most expensive conures both to purchase and care for, although many owners feel that the benifits litterally outwiegh the cost.

Patagonian Conure

The Patagonian conure, or Cyanoliseus patagonus, is a large conure found in Patagonia region of south-central Argentia and Chile. Drab on the top, brighly colored underneath the Patagonian conure has exploded in popularity in the last decade, leading to an increase in illegal importation which threatens the wild populations.

Enicognathus

The dusky red-tailed and green Austral conure' and the self-descriptice Slender-billed conure make up the genus Enicognathus. Although both birds in the genus are available in aviculture, neither is exceptionally common in captivity.

Golden-Plumed Conure

The Golden-plumed conure, Leptosittaca branickii, is a small, Andean conure is not found in aviculture, and edndangered in it's own habitat.

Yellow-Eared Conure

The exceedingly rare Yellow-eared conure or Ognorhynchus icterotis of Colombia and Ecuador was never common in aviculture and has not successfully bred in captivity.

Carolina Parakeet

Conuropsis carolinensis, the Carolina Parakeet was the only parrot species indigenous to the Eastern United States. The Carolina parakeet an incredibly social bird that would return to mourn dead members of the flock, making themselves easy targets for sport hunters. Considered a pest, popular in the pet trade this conure was hunted to extinction around the turn of the last century.

Relationships

The parrot order Psittaciformes is a rather confusing tangle of genera, many containing only one species. For this reason, rather than try to sort parrots into families and subfamilies biologists currently clasify all parrots under the family Psittacidae.

Internal relationships of conures are poorly understood though it seems evident that, to make them a natural grouping, the Quaker parakeet¹, the thick-billed parrot, and Brotegeris² should be included, and often are. Neotropical parakeets, macaws, and other are also candidates potential for inclusion. In this context, "conure" potentially constitutes members of the genera:

• Aratinga
• Phyrrhura
• Nandayus
• Guarouba
• Cyanoliseus
• Enicognathus
• Leptosittaca
• Ognorhynchus
• Conuropsis
• Rhynchopsitta: Quaker parakeet
• Myopsitta: Thick-billed parrot

Macaws:

• Ara
• Anodorhynchus
• Cyanopsitta
• Diopsittaca
• Orthopsittaca
• Primolius

In addition the caiques and the hawk-headed parakeets have also been proposed from exclusion. Both the caiques and the Hawk-headed parakeets have a heavier build and different tail structure than traditional conures.

¹The Quaker or Monk parakeet is technically a conure by almost anybody's definition, but due to it's popularity in avicultural and uniqueness, it is generally considered in a category of its own. ²Brotegeris are not only often counted as conures, but as parrotlets as well, and it is not clear precisely which one, or both, or neither, they belong to. Certainly the tail structure is different than that of the parrotlets, although the basic body structure seems to be analogous with both groups.