The larger conures - ALL loud and screechy?

Thanks for all the help in my previous threads, everybody!

With some help from the caique people, I think I've decided a caique's energy would drive my boyfriend crazy. I think I would adjust and really enjoy playing and wrestling with the bird. But an animal that isn't willing to calm down and just hang out for a while miiiight just be too wound up for Boyfriend. (He's a cat person... he likes calm sedentary animals. I'm a dog person, and would play all day with animals if I could!)

So, I've been looking around again. I definitely don't want to go above something like a caique or poicephalus in size. In fact, I LOVE birds that size... it would be ideal.

The poicephalus seem like such nice birds. Both the Senegal and Jardine's I met at the breeder's shop were sweet and friendly and wanted attention as soon as they met me. Wonderful. And I think Meyer's parrots are just the cutest.

But I am still attracted to playful, wacky, and cuddly birds. So I'm back to conures. Definitely still liking the green cheeks and other Pyrrhuras. But I'm a little worried about how frequently they seem to have nippiness/aggression issues.

I'm attacted to both the size and the apparent more easy-going nature of the Aratingas. They still seem to have all the cuddliness and playfulness that I love in conures, though. But... the noise. Is the noise pretty much guaranteed to be bad? I've virtually eliminated suns and jendays from the discussion, as cute as they are.

But what about duskies, blue-crowns, peach-fronted, half-moons? In a quiet environment, might they be okay? I know I can expect some screeching from conures, whatever kind they are. But the larger ones are really tempting in terms of size and personality; I'm just worried about noise. We do live in an apartment at the moment. We actually aren't currently sharing any walls with anyone. Possibly the floor, though.

Anyway, I'm curious about the noise level of some of the Aratingas, as well as just general experiences with them. Specifically... Cuddliness? Playfulness? Friendliness to other people? Willingness to be trained to wear a harness?

Thanks! Hopefully this will be an interesting discussion! I'm having trouble finding a whole lot of info about these other conures, since they're not as popular as suns and green cheeks. xP

Hi Kisota!

I don't have a ton of experience, but I will tell you about my Green Cheek Conure.

When she arrived (by plane), she was very snuggly. She just wanted to nestle into your neck or shirt and nibble on things (no nipping though). In a few days, she was more brave and playful, but reverts to cuddly when she tires herself out.

At about 8 months is when she got nippy. I made a few mistakes myself. I made her a happy hut, which she adored (and it was quite cute to see her in it!), but it put her into "mating" mood. She got hormonal really fast, and it didn't help that we had long daylight hours at the time. All this combined with a lot of back petting set her into some bad behaviour of biting when she doesn't get what she wants.

That being said, I realised what was going on, took away the happy hut, gave her fewer daylight hours, and minimized my back stroking. She hasn't nipped anyone in about 8 months now! If she gives me the "grump" (an annoyed squawk and flap), I put her silently back in the cage and wait until she's calmer.

I find that GCC are quieter than most birds. While the quantity of noise can be high, they are normally less shrill than say, a cockatiel. But expect flock calls any time your bird sees/hears you, and a whole lot of talking and garble talking.

Another experience I've had is that Prim likes to go to my husband when he's around, I guess because he's "special" ie. doesn't pay attention to her like I do. And she can be shy around strangers, but if I have her out for 5-10 minutes with someone new she warms up quite fast.

Prim hated the harness, but I didn't make much attempt at it.

Overall, these are definitely active birds, who like to snuggle at the end of play time.

Good luck!!

I don't know about Aratinga, but I have a green cheek and she can get very very loud! Of course I do not encourage that behavior, but I don't suppress it either since it is just what they do!

As for being tame, it might be a good idea to get a bird that's been handled (kindly) by humans while it is still a baby. This doesn't mean they won't bite etc., but they would at least have more confidence living with humans if they are already used to them.

Harness training is pretty much up to you..not sure if any bird enjoys it at first 0.0

As for noise, hyperness and all other bird behavior, I think you are going to find that in all of them..it kinda depends on the individual bird, not the breed?

The best way to approach it would probably be to meet a bunch of them and see which one clicks with you the most. Then after building a connection with each other, you'll find that all those issues that you are concerned about work out on their own. I say this because I had a million and one concerns when Kiwi and I first got to know each other..but after a few months of building a relationship with her, it all seems so trivial!

best of luck!

i got four gcc,and i can say they aren't loud.
They got their few minutes a day and that's it.
They do make some happy noises sometimes but they are fairly quite.
My newest gcc used to be a screamer ,but when i got him he quickly realized that the other 3 weren't going to scream back and stopped.
I think it also relies on how you raise them.

kiwiS said:

As for noise, hyperness and all other bird behavior, I think you are going to find that in all of them..it kinda depends on the individual bird, not the breed?

The best way to approach it would probably be to meet a bunch of them and see which one clicks with you the most.

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Exactly! That's what I really want to do, but I'm having trouble finding opportunities to meet different species of babies that I'm interested in. I'm in touch with a local breeder that seems to be very well respected, which is great. They have green cheeks and a few other Pyrrhura conures, but only suns for Aratingas. Shucks! Been doing more looking around for other breeders, though. It just doesn't seem like there are many who have the sorts of birds I'm interested in meeting. Keeping my eyes open as well for other upcoming bird fairs.

For sure, even when I decide what species I want, I am going to do my best to meet up and meet the whole group of babies to choose which one I want. My only real requirement past that is that I want a male; I lost my beloved tiel to egg-laying complications despite extensive preventative care and vet attention, and I just can't bear to even risk that sort of thing again.

It really seems like green cheeks WOULD be a good fit. My boyfriend seems to like how small they are, as well, and thinks they're pretty cute, so that's a plus. I think they're some of the cutest parrots out there for sure. I was immediately awed by the first ones I ever saw, in a pet store, years ago when I still had my tiel. Even then I was fantasizing about having one, haha. So thank you for the continued votes of confidence on green cheeks. I think I've been getting worried, seeing how many threads on this forum and others are started by people having problems with nipping and aggression.

I still really would like to hear from some Aratinga owners, especially those who have had the somewhat less notoriously louds ones (ie, not suns, jendays, etc). Even looking on Youtube to find videos of duskies and peach-fronteds isn't coming up with a whole lot to compare. But suns and green cheeks are everywhere! And all the videos are just so endearing. Both species have such cute faces, pretty colors, and are just so snuggly and funny and sweet. I'm having trouble getting a complete picture of blue-crowns, duskies, and peach-fronts (or cherry heads, mitreds, etc).

I am a complete parrot novice (have owned my sun conure for 5 days) but i did a ton of research before buying him. It is my understanding that SCREAMING is a training issue. Any parrot, including tiny and docile ones like budgies and cockatiels, have the potential to be screamers. Good training should prevent that.

The issue is that all birds do vocalize at some point. And when the aratingas do so, it is earth shatteringly loud. Probably a really bad choice for an apartment IMO. You would hate to give your heart to a bird, and then have to get rid of your friend because your neighbors complained.

Personally I would not have an aratinga in an apartment. You might have a quiet one, but what if it ends up being a screamer even temporarily? It's not likely neighbors will put up with that.

I have had a sun and a blue crown. My sun was loud when she wanted to be, and i know you have ruled them out anyhow. Even a well behaved sun has a sound that some people just can't stand. I don't mind it most of the time but i can see how some people would think "no way!"

My blue crown is completely different. He is not at all noisy. He is a chatterbox, and very vocal, but not squawky. I was just sick for a week and a half, about 6 days of it lying down most of the time, and he was an angel, even without getting the attention he is used to. He stood in the cage saying "Gilbert's a good boy. Gilbert's a good boy" over and over, to get my attention. Sadly i was too sick to play with him very much, but he still did not squawk. Now that i am feeling better, but not well yet, he comes out and simply snuggles with me, without demanding anything more than to cuddle while i sit under the blanket and watch tv.

So cuddly, yes, noisy, no. Gilbert happens to be a slob though, LOL! He is the messiest bird i have ever had....he is the "pig pen" of parrots!! But he is a total charmer, so i don't mind THAT much!!

Huh, I've been reading a little more about Poicephalus parrots today. I liked their size and it seems like many people really enjoy them. But they didn't seem as fun and playful and outgoing as conures.

Red-bellies, though, are described as being pretty playful and lively compared to other pois. Huh! And they're a good size, but Poicephalus, not Aratinga, so less likely to be loud. So many choices! I haven't really seen red-bellies available much, though. :/

Ooh, RuffledFeathers, thank you for the insight on the blue crown! Sounds similar to what I've heard about them - not as loud, cuddly, and really impressively sweet and endearing. Yet another bird I haven't seen much of, though! I really like duskies and peachfronts as well, and golden-capped seem really cool, but I don't think I've come across even one as I've been looking around for breeders and such.

I can only speak for my 2 year old sun conure (aratinga) but he can be a ball of energy. He was a lot more hyper when he was much younger bit these days he can be content inside my shirt or under the blanket when I'm watching tv. BUT he can be hyper active when he wants to be in the middle of my keyboard typing.

I had a blue crown conure for over 21 years. He had his moments, but overall, he was pretty darn quiet as are all of my birds. In fact, when the birds started getting noisy, he would be the one to say "shut up." He usually started the party, but at least he knew how to end it quickly.

Others are right to say that whether or not they are screamers is in the training, but it's not any kind of formal training. It's your daily interactions with the bird and how you handle things that "train" the bird. A lot of people just don't have it in them to ignore a vocal bird and wait until it's quiet before doing anything with the bird. Giving the bird negative attention is still giving the bird attention. It sounds very easy, but it isn't and the more people there are in a household, the harder it is for the bird to have consistency in human interactions, especially if any of the people won't/can't cooperate. I've known quite a few people who complained about their screaming parrots and who believed they were ignoring the noisy bird, but from what I saw, they were actually encouraging it with mostly negative attention every time it got vocal.

If you like GCC, also check out the Turquoise. If went to the breeder with the intention of getting Pineapple, but I left with a Yellow Sided just because it chose me and my children. The breeder also have Turquoise GCCs. I fell in love with the breeding pair of Turquoise he has right away for their color. Turquoise is very hard to find. Unfortunetely, I was too late for a Turquoise, he sold all 5 babies less than a week of advertisement. He only let his pairs breed 1 batch per year. Turquoise cost more than Sun!

While I've only had my Senegal for a week I have heard her scream/call multiple times & have also heard a red belly before. The best way to describe it is a smoke detector with a dead battery multiplied a few times. Those are rare but can leave your ear ringing if you're too close to the cage.
My GCC does not have as loud or high pitched a call. It is more squawky. Outside of the calls they are both pretty quiet. My Senegal loves to chatter away while the GCC gives the occasional chirp. All bird are individual birds & I think I've lucked out with quiet ones.
Just make sure you've heard all of a bird's range of vocalizations in person so you know you can handle them no matter how much they do them. They all have their moments no matter how 'quiet' the bird is.

I have a Sun Conure and I did have a Blue Crown Conure. The Blue Crown sounded a lot worse than the Sun. My Sun can be loud for no reason. If he sees something he doesn't like he will make a very loud alarm call.

I also have a Green Cheek and she doesn't scream anymore, but when she used to it wasn't TOO bad but was pretty loud, she could wake me up at 6am each day, but she was right next to my bed. She is also better with people then my Sun is and also slightly calmer than him. But it depends on the bird.

thekarens said:

Personally I would not have an aratinga in an apartment. You might have a quiet one, but what if it ends up being a screamer even temporarily? It's not likely neighbors will put up with that.

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Reminds me of the upstairs neighbors... Large dog barking constantly nothing we can do about it. They say when they're at work she has to go out on the balcony.

Also, I'll never forget at an apartment years ago, there was a male cockatiel who was in an outdoor cage during the day everyday right across the walkway from me who made tiel noises near constantly. Even a little cockatiel, it was obnoxious since it was outside for all to hear loud and clear. Must have been a happy little guy, but so annoying. Also, a little ways away someone had a Sun conure (not even a close neighbor and it was loud). That is why to this day my Red Bellied imitates conure screams! Being a Poi, he can't do it as loud thank goodness!

It's more of an issue when the bird (or dog) is noisy FREQUENTLY. OR when they're kept outdoors where you can hear it regardless whether it's loud in volume or not. I kept an Eclectus and Slender Billed corella in an apartment and it was fine. Eclectus was loud, but infrequent. Corella had a different noise than other cockatoos and not loud. Plus the birds were indoors so not disturbing. It's just a matter of common courtesy when you have close neighbors.

Oh, did I go OT? :52: just a little... Still about bird noise though.