green cheek conures vs electus

Hi Guys,

I'm looking for a parrot to be my lifelong friend, I've owned and bred budgies many years ago but wanted something with a little more potential for human interaction/affection & one I can train. From my research I think electus & conures suit the best. I love personality in a bird and would like one that is friendly towards others if possible- not just me/the owner. I've found good breeders for both species so they will be handraised.

I fell in love with a male electus when I went to a bird sanctuary and know these are more work diet-wise but would still be happy to put in the effort. From everything I've read GCC are also excellent pets and would fit what I'm looking for. I would like a bird that can say a few words but it doesn't need to talk excessively.

Can anyone out there tell me whether they've had any personal experience with these breeds and how their noise levels compare (as a generalization I understand it is different bird to bird) and whether they've noticed either breed to be nippy (again as a generalization I understand all birds will bite occasionally). I've also read that female sun conures are quieter- does anyone have experience & know if this is often that case?

Thank you kindly!

Green Cheeks and Eclectuses are in completely separate leagues in both terms of noise and bites. Green Cheeks are on the quieter end of the noise spectrum, Eclectuses can scream pretty good, I would never suggest an Eclectus in an apartment but a Conure is fine in one. A bite from a Conure may give you a tiny cut but I wouldn't even bother with a plaster, an Eclectus in attack mode can leave you needing stitches.

As for a Sun conure and females being quieter the one and only Sun I met was described by her owner as pretty quiet for a Sun. Not 2 minutes later she was holding her own in a scream match with an Umbrella Cockatoo.

If you're in a house and are prepared for an Eclectus if one has chosen you and you like them why not? Just be prepared. If you're in an apartment I would go with the Green Cheek, just let one choose you if possible. I would also suggest checking out any rescues if you can. You won't have to deal with the personality change from sexual maturity and you wont have to deal with the first on set of hormones which are the worst

Ah okay thank you for your reply! That's what I originally thought too but looking through all the forums comparing the two species alot of owners of both conures and electus said their conures were louder. I guess I was just wondering whether this was a trend that owners had noticed or perhaps these birds were just exceptions to the rule..

So far am leaning towards the conure, seems more reliable for what I want. Not in an apartment, bit of land around us so noise shouldn't be a huge bother. Ohh... haha okay maybe not a sun then. I'm not opposed to noise I just tend to stay up late and sleep in. Where I'm from (small town) there are no rescues, have already rung the RSPCA here.

You couldn’t have asked about more opposite birds. You really need to go find adults of both species to spend time with; nothing on the internet can compare.

Noise wise, an eckie can get much more volume. Either bird will scream if you don’t handle training and mental stimulation, if they are sick, etc.

I’ve been bitten by eckies, Macaw’s, cockatoos, everything. My worst bite was from a GCC. But the AVERAGE bite from an eckie would be much worse than an AVERAGE bite from a GCC. Nippiness comes down to early rearing procedures and I can tell you in either case abundance Weaning and full fledging are VITAL but most breeders don’t do EITHER and that preprograms birds to bite.

As a breeder of GCCs I have noticed the females tend to be quieter but there is no guarantee. Also remember that more vocal means more vocal; a quieter bird is less likely to talk. And sub Conures are one of the loudest birds out there and are constantly being surrendered because they are too loud, male and female.

I don’t understand what you think is lacking in the ability of a budgie to interact by the way. And honestly from your description of what you want it sounds like your ideal bird is actually a cockatiel.

Conures are pair bond birds, eckies are not, but either way it’s on YOU to train them to accept other people not on them to do it naturally. A cockatiel would do this more easily than either of the species you mentioned.

A conure is much more likely to cuddle.

These birds are really vastly different, you need to go spend time with ADULT bird to see which is the right fit. Babies don’t count; babies are sweet and cute and haven’t hit their horrible hormones yet.



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thank you for your advice! The budgies I raised were all in a large avery together, no clipped wings, they all became skittish of humans even the babies eventually. Their environment was very free so there wasn't really an opportunity to have that interaction- I should also mention this was while I was at school 10 years ago so I'm certainly alot older and wiser now about how these things work. I'm 100% willing to put in the effort and training, have been watching hoursssss of videos on youtube In fact I'm very much looking forward to it.

As far as cocktails go, I can't explain why, I just simply don't like them. I've booked in time to view the babies of both species and their parents in the next few weeks so I should be able to better compare them then.

From what you've said once again GCC seem to be taking the lead.

I own an Eclectus.

If an eckie wants to yell, they can blow your eardrums. I have a baby eckie and when she's hungry and she's doing her hunger screams, you can't think straight.

Her contact calls, while not excessive, can be just as loud, so like with any bird you have to remember to redirect unwanted noises to noises you do want.

I find sometimes when she's content she can be very quiet, however that silence always makes me suspicious. If I'm not in the room and she goes quiet I go straight there - to see what mischief she's undoubtedly up to. (I often find her blinking innocently at me...)

I've heard conure screeches and their calls have a much higher pitch, more a squeal whereas eckies are more of a squawk. Depending on your tolerance one may be less pleasant than the other for you.

I just found it funny because I have shared my life with budgies and adore them to pieces; in fact I’m raising a few right now because I wanted one in my life again

Viewing wild parents won’t be the same. Try to find someone in your area that owns them.


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I completely agree with all the above. Completely different species that honestly shouldn’t even be in the same question. Eclectus are bigger, obviously, so their care immediately becomes much more intense. Space will be a huge difference. Ekkies need a large cage, the footprint for which a minimum of 30x34” or so. And this is just their cage. You’ll likely need a large play stand/java tree where he can play, which takes up even more space.

A conure takes up significantly less space.

Bigger birds means bigger poop, bigger messes, etc.

The male you met at the sanctuary sounds like a typical male. Very friendly with everyone. I took Parker for his nail trim at the vet last night. The techs had a ball with him in back, he charmed the hell out of them. They kept saying how he would always step up for them whenever they asked him to, and didn’t scream or anything. He was an absolute gentleman. Unusual for him, he usually kicks and screams bloody murder with the nails.

The screams are also very different. I think the description of conures being higher pitches is spot on. Conures are more ear splitting. Ekkies screams are louder, but also are probably the most ugly, unpretty call of any parrot. It’s like one of those noisemakers you spin round and round. But a Thousand Times louder.

Sun Conures are definately ear splitting. Tango, my Sun, has yelled in my ear before and my ear rang like I had just witnessed an explosion at close range. Tango is quiet for a Sun conure but he will yell if something is wrong or upsetting him. He specifically yells when he wants my Mom to get away from him and he will also yell if one of the other birds yell. All of my birds will keep quiet during the night but will yell a few times in the morning and then get quiet again.

Electus is one of the birds I have never been around. There weren’t any at my last job. Although someone did bring one to get nails clipped one time and it was surprisingly quiet. It didn’t scream or anything. Although I do know Electus and Conures are two different species that are very different.

Regarding bites Sun Conures can leave a nasty cut if they want to, it will hurt and it may bleed just a tiny bit. I bled when Tango bit down really hard because he got scared, although other times when he bit me just to see my reaction if I did make one, he left bruises or would pull a bit of skin off. Now to be honest, my Yellow sided Green Cheek Conure, Echo, has bitten me harder than Tango ever has. Echo is very aggressive and we are working on it, he is calming down a bit but when I took him home he was a sweet little boy, now the Avian Vet thinks he is going through a hormonal stage. Comet, my pineapple green cheek conure, is shy but she makes a bit of noise. Even though she is shy she likes to be held and cuddle, she will hang upside down and lay in my hand like that, she is wonderful. Now even though a bird is aggressive, shy, or bites, the number one thing in my case is patience and being calm.

chris-md said:

I completely agree with all the above. Completely different species that honestly shouldn’t even be in the same question. Eclectus are bigger, obviously, so their care immediately becomes much more intense. Space will be a huge difference. Ekkies need a large cage, the footprint for which a minimum of 30x34” or so. And this is just their cage. You’ll likely need a large play stand/java tree where he can play, which takes up even more space.

A conure takes up significantly less space.

Bigger birds means bigger poop, bigger messes, etc.

The male you met at the sanctuary sounds like a typical male. Very friendly with everyone. I took Parker for his nail trim at the vet last night. The techs had a ball with him in back, he charmed the hell out of them. They kept saying how he would always step up for them whenever they asked him to, and didn’t scream or anything. He was an absolute gentleman. Unusual for him, he usually kicks and screams bloody murder with the nails.

The screams are also very different. I think the description of conures being higher pitches is spot on. Conures are more ear splitting. Ekkies screams are louder, but also are probably the most ugly, unpretty call of any parrot. It’s like one of those noisemakers you spin round and round. But a Thousand Times louder.

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Yes it is obvious a larger bird will make more of a mess, more work and will need larger equipment. That is not at all a problem, and I've made it clear that I'm willing to put whatever it takes into training.
I live in rural QLD Australia so I don't have the luxury to choosing say a senegal or pionus, we simply don't have any here and I wouldn't put any bird through the stress of transportation. I've spoken with at least 5 or 6 people who have both electus and conures- including green cheeks. They've essentially all said that their conures are louder/nippier. So this is more what I'm interested in finding.
I probably would prefer the louder 'squawk' sound than a high pitched squeal though.

maintenance isn’t a problem or concern. Space isn’t a problem or concern.

So all things being equal, which they seem to be, what is the most aspect of the bird to you?

Ekkies are in the top three of talkers.

One major con for ekkies is hormones. Most parrots go through annual hormone bouts in the spring that lasts a week to a month, then it’s done.

Ekkies are not one of these. They can breed anytime of the year so you will likely find yourself battling hormones off an on throughout the year.

When hormonal male ekkies tend to get amorous. They masturbate on anything and may regurgitate for you often. About 10% or less of males might become aggressive rather than amorous, and may bite unpredictably. Most tend to be amorous (a local bird breeder went wide mouthed in shock when I described how Parker behaves hormonally: “oh my god that is so rare for the males!”)

Hormones can be managed. But with ekkies is always gonna be something you have to deal with.

yeah conures are high pitched in their call, though after having my conure decide my ear was a good echo chamber for his screech I would definitely not like an Ekkie screaming there.

My ekkies are typically quiet vocally at least 85 - 90% of their waking hours during the day but that other 15 - 20% can be a mixture of vocabulary and squawking.

My guys usually let rip the yells when they exercise their wings (grabbing onto the outside of the cage and having a burst of flapping for a brief time), or (in Dexters case) when wanting to tell me he wants to come out and play (Dexter had already learnt this before I got him).

I'm not sure if conures are more consistently vocal throughout the day?

I know lots of smaller birds chirp alot all day which is something I personally might find more annoying But I'd recommend you have a look online for some videos of the noises each species makes and imagine what it would be like potentially hearing those sounds on a regular basis.

I did alot of research before deciding on eclectus. In my opinion they are less skittish than smaller birds which personally gives me a calmer piece of mind when handling them... In all honesty... I think I'm a little scared of smaller birds... but don't tell anyone

I have both a GCC and an Ekkie! They are polar opposites.
My GCC is cuddly and loves to clown around. His favorite thing to do is make kissy noises and hang completely upside down. He loves to throw toys around and gets along with every single person he meets. However, Mr. Calvin is nippy and has broken my skin once or twice, when he decides he's done with being touched or wants to go back on his cage, he will let you know.
My Ekkie is less of a cuddle bug and is not nearly as active as my GCC. My Ekkie is very pensive and to me, that makes her amazing. She is extremely bright and mischievous. Her call is extremely loud. However, she is stunning and really enjoys hanging out on my arm, or on the arm of the couch, just watching me or watching TV with me. As we speak, she is sitting right next to me. She is particular. If she decides she doesn't like you, she will lunge at you and become quite aggressive. She's decided she doesn't like my father and does not let him near her cage.


Either way, I LOVE my babies so much and adore how different they are. Good luck with whatever you choose, either way, you're in for a treat.