Need advice- Sun Conure good for Townhome?

[tsundasta]

Hello all! I am new to this forum so Im sorry if I break any/all rules.
I am considering buying a baby Sun Conure, but the biggest issue is the noise. Not that it bothers ME because I grew up with my Cockatiel who loved to screech all the time (He died this past christmas, I think Im ready to introduce another bird into my life), but I live in a Townhome that is connected on the sides to other people.

Even though my bird was a noisy one Ive never had any problems at all, but I just want others' opinions since I've never had conures, just Cockatiel. From what IM seeing from this breeder no one really has issues with noise. They ARE loud but they don't scream all day every day esp with proper training. The breeder basically just told me to never get 2 of them, just have a solo bird and Ill be fine

Another side note; the walls of my townhome are pretty thick. I rarely ever hear neighbors and when I do, its because their kids are running up the stairs. My cousin also SCREECHES whenever he plays video games and I cant hear him if I'm downstairs.

What do you guys think? Am I being too paranoid or should I seriously reconsider a sun?

 

[SailBoat]

Welcome to Parrot Forums!

We have an Amazon and have found a very long time ago that the best approach it is introduce oneself to the neighbors early-on (with your parrot) with the added statement that from time to time s/he maybe a bit noise when welcoming the Sun in the morning, etc...

Enjoy!

 

[Flboy]

Welcome! If your townhouse is recently built, there are firewalls between the units! Please consider a rehomed sun! A-He/she needs a home, B-You both have a better understanding of each other! On the level of loud, we are talking Very loud!
In this video, this guy is so loud, he is overloading the microphone!
[ame="https://youtu.be/bYFMo5Ar1k0"]How Loud Is a Screaming Sun Conure? - YouTube[/ame]

 

[SunnyGirl]

hi, welcome

a sun conure is an amazing thing to have, but they are loud... very loud... that video posted above at full volume is a good example

I live in an appartement complex (the walls aren't thin, it's quite solidly built, stone and all) and I had no idea how loud a sun conure actually was till I had her home... well my luck is that my direct neighbours are lovely (all 4 appartements on my floor) and I went to every one of them with the birdie (after a few weeks, but I did tell them the day I got her that I now have a bigger bird that a budgie and they would probably hear her sometimes), well neighbours like the bird and it is now that if they don't hear her (like the one week she was at the vet) they get worried and come asking if she is ok but... sadly not all neighbours are like this, I had quite some problems with a few others that constaintly complained about the noise for about a year... it settled down only after one of my direct neighbours started complaining that they are more annoying and louder than the bird...

but deffinitelly introduce the bird to the neighbours and warn them about the possible noise and screaming (cause oh man do they scream sometimes) if you do decide to get the sun

 

[Allee]

If noise is a huge issue for you a Sun Conure may not be the best choice. Maybe talk to the breeder and ask him or her to allow you to visit right before the evening meal, birds tend to get very loud before and after then they like to flock call. Tolerance levels for noise differs for everyone, there’s a huge gap between the noise a cockatiel makes and the noise a conure is capable of.

Good luck with your decision, please let us know what you decide.

 

[Jen5200]

I’ll throw my two cents in as well. I have 2 sun conures, and when they decide to make noise - THEY MAKE NOISE . I would recommend a lot of caution considering a sun in a townhome. Your current neighbors may be fine with the noise that a sun makes, but what happens if someone else moves in and it isn’t fine anymore? Unfortunately it’s beyond your control who lives close to you, and this could create an untenable situation either now or later. Noise levels of sun conures are not predictable, and vary by individual bird. Training may or may not help - what would happen if it didn’t work? What would happen if they are really noisy when your aren’t home? I have one sun who is a bit quieter than the other - but neither would make good neighbors in an attached home.

Have you considered green cheek conures or another species that doesn’t have the vocal power of a sun? I can hear my suns 60 feet down my driveway if they hear a vehicle or other noise outside - but my green cheeks have nowhere near that much decibel capacity lol.

 

[EllenD]

As someone who has never owned a "pet" Sun Conure but who bred them for about 6 years and who owned 2 breeding-pairs of them (so 4 of them), and someone who does own a male Green Cheek Conure as a pet, I can tell you that the Sun Conures are loud...VERY, VERY LOUD! And the problem that most people in your situation is that not only are Sun Conures extremely loud, but they are in-fact extremely vocal parrots, and they actually do in-fact make noise/sounds/talking/squawking/screaming all day long, every day...

***Conures in-general are fantastic companion parrots, as pretty much all of them are known to be "Velcro-Birds", meaning they bond very closely with their person and are extremely loving, want attention and cuddles all the time, and want to be with their person all the time. That's exactly how my Green Cheek Conure is, he's a little love-bug who sticks to me like glue...But I've gotta say that even he is pretty loud, but not only loud, but also extremely vocal throughout the day, all day long. Constant talking, chirping, singing, screaming, etc. all day long...As I'm typing this I'm listening to him in the other room screaming away with my Quaker Parrot, another parrot who you definitely do not want if noise is an issue, lol...

Even if you are living in a newer Townhouse with thick walls and good insulation, if you have neighbors on both sides of your home, right on the other side of the walls, then I would have to say that either a Sun Conure or a Jenday Conure (extremely similar species of Conures) would not be a good choice for you unfortunately. They are great little birds and they are awesome, loving companions, but they are LOUD and constantly so...And as a former parrot breeder of over 20 years (and a car salesperson for almost 15 years), I'll be the first to admit that listenting to a breeder when you ask them questions like this one, any questions that could result in you not buying a bird from them, you need to do exactly what you're doing, go and ask the questions to experienced bird owners who have no reason at all to lie to you or to paint a very rosey picture for you...Of course the breeder is going to tell you that they "Don't really scream" etc...They want to sell you a bird...Kind of like "They're all the same color on the inside" and "You can't see the color when you're driving it" kind of a thing...lol.

***What exactly are you looking for in the new bird you bring into your life and your family? You've already owned a Cockatiel long-term, so you know what they are like, but what is it that you liked about your Cockatiel, and what is it that you didn't like about your Cockatiel? If you can describe the type of personlity, attitude, etc. that you're looking for in your next bird, and the type of relationship you hope to have with your new bird, we can certainly offer you suggestions on parrot species that you should research and go and spend time with, and that would work for someone living in a Townhouse...

Unfortunately I'll say it again, in your living situation with your neighbors, a Sun Conure is probably not a good choice at all, nor is a Jenday Conure...What you don't want to have happen is to go and bring home a new hand-raised, baby Sun/Jenday Conure, fall in love with it and bond with it closely, and then be forced to re-home it after a period of time because of noise-complaints. I have been working at an Avian Rescue for over 8 years now, and one of the #1 reasons why people re-home their pet parrots/birds is because they live in either an apartment or townhouse and there were too many noise-complaints by their neighbors, and they were put into a situation where they had no choice but to either re-home/surrender their bird or to move-out. It's a horrible situation to be in, and I've seen so many people and families (with young children crying their eyes out) bringing in their pet birds for surrender, only because of the noise complaints...And I'd be lying or holding back on you if I didn't tell you that many of the surrenders due to noise issues are Sun and Jenday Conures...

So better to figure out what species of parrot will and won't work now so you don't have to go through that horribly painful situation down the road...There are a lot of great parrot species that are just as loving, intelligent, cuddly, etc. as a Sun/Jenday Conure and that are also much more quiet and perfect for apartment/townhouse living where noise is an issue...Off the top of my head I immediately think of my Senegal Parrot, Kane. I brought him home as an 11 week-old, hand-raised baby from his breeder, and he just turned 2 this past September. He's just a little cuddlebug, he's loving, extremely intelligent, he talks, and most important to me is that he just wants to be with me all the time, and loves nothing more than to just spend his day playing with me, napping on me, cuddling and watching a movie with me, doing puzzles with me, and going as often as he can (when the weather is good) on car-rides and then shopping with me on his Aviator Harness...He comes grocery shopping with me all the time, he loves to ride around on the cart, he loves going for walks, hikes in the woods, bike rides on my shoulder, etc. And the Poicephalus Parrots in-general are a very quiet family of parrots.

 

[EllenD]

I just had a quick chat with Kane (he's currently over-seeing what I'm typing), and he told me to tell you to "Get a Senegal! Get a Senegal!", followed by a wolf-whistile and a "Yeah!"...

 

[YSGC]

The suns are exceedingly beautiful but, when parrot-volume may become a big problem, I second the recommendation of getting a green cheek instead of a sun.

The only conure I've had is a green cheek, so perhaps someone who's had both can describe the differences in personality and behavior.
(Though of course individual birds within any species will vary.)

 

[RemiBird]

I have a single green cheek conure and he is very quiet. Occasional flock call or "ack-ack" call if he is frightened by something, but 90% of the time, pretty much quiet.
I wouldn't keep a sun conure, personally. I have heard them in a pet store a long time ago and the noise was too much.

 

[tsundasta]

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your feedback. For now Ive decided to just hold off for now + Keep searching for a GCC maybe, but Ill still talk with my neighbors just in case.

Im still a bit iffy about getting a new bird so soon after my Tiel's passing as well, I just saw this little guy on petfinder and fell in love, lol. Ill definitely consider everyone's words very hard. Thanks again!

 

[Jen5200]

Thanks for considering everything - I absolutely love my suns, but can’t imagine them being popular with neighbors (thankfully I live on a rural property and have no one living close by). My GCC’s are wonderful birds and I love them, and I have met several senegals that were very sweet and also quiet. Good luck - I hope you’ll keep us posted with your decision about this bird or possibly another!

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

I will just say this, it IS possible, but the question should be 'is it plausible'.

While ALL sunnies ARE loud, not all sunnies are noisy. The noisiness is what causes issues most of the time.

I want to emphasize in the strongest terms that the loudness of a cockatiel is NOTHING compared to the loudness of a sunny. I had budgies and cockatiels for years prior to getting Skittles. Sunnies screeches are NOT pleasant, whereas a noisy budgie or tiel are pleasant.

That being said, I am not bothered at all by loud bird noises, as long as they are not consistently constant. I live in an apartment which any sunnie owner will likely tell you is one of the 'least ideal' living situations to have a sunnie in. BUT I've made it work. While I live in an old building, the walls are very thick and the apartment doors are 'fire doors', so they shield a lot more noise than typical ones. I've also been in this building over half my life and have a good relationship with my landlord and my neighbors which makes a BIG difference.

What you may want to do is inquire with the landlord and your potential neighbor(s) and try to set things up so that there isn't a problem. And if one arises, you have a system in place. Good relations with neighbors go a LONG way in how tolerant a neighbor is/will be.

Skittles is free-flighted (which cuts down on his noisiness by like 90%). He only screams now for a specific reason. If I address it, the screaming stops. He doesn't scream to get his way (he may 'try', but it doesnt work and just gets him a timeout).

I've got things with Skittles pretty much downpacked to a science now, but I've had him for almost 8yrs and the first 2-3yrs were a living hell. While Skittles has always been free-flighted (he came to me potty-trained), my lack of boundaries/limits with him and giving him whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it resulted in MAJOR behavioral issues.

Before I forget, welcome to the forum!!! Lots of great advice and caring parronts here. Hope whatever you choose to do ends up being the best thing for all around.

 

[Alehner529]

There are lots of other folks here who have had parrots for much longer than I, but for what it's worth, sun conures can be very loud. I have one, and there are times when my neighbor can here her from in her house. They are very vocal birds, mango has to talk about everything. And from what I have learned, the vocalizations are normal and should not be discouraged as long as they are for the right reasons. I guess green cheeks are much quieter, you could consider them.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

 

[Allee]

Hello everyone! Thank you so much for your feedback. For now Ive decided to just hold off for now + Keep searching for a GCC maybe, but Ill still talk with my neighbors just in case.

Im still a bit iffy about getting a new bird so soon after my Tiel's passing as well, I just saw this little guy on petfinder and fell in love, lol. Ill definitely consider everyone's words very hard. Thanks again!

I think your decision to hold off for now is a wise one. That said, I hope we haven’t discouraged you from getting a bird at all, there are many species to consider that would probably be a nice fit.

 

[Aratingettar]

Sun conures may be considered loud... as for their modest size. But lot of other parrots are much louder (one of my neighbours do have an Amazon parrot; she's LOUD!). But as Sikttys_Daddy mentioned it's more the matter of vocalness than pure loudness. What also can be problematic is Sun's vocal pitch (they have very high-pitched call; with a bit of tremolo, its truly ear-drilling sound).

But I can't imagine living WITHOUT my Sun conure anymore, and that's mostly becaue of Sun's personality. I live in a semi-detached, so far no complaints

 

[Skittys_Daddy]

Sun conures may be considered loud... as for their modest size. But lot of other parrots are much louder (one of my neighbours do have an Amazon parrot; she's LOUD!). But as Sikttys_Daddy mentioned it's more the matter of vocalness than pure loudness. What also can be problematic is Sun's vocal pitch (they have very high-pitched call; with a bit of tremolo, its truly ear-drilling sound).

But I can't imagine living WITHOUT my Sun conure anymore, and that's mostly becaue of Sun's personality. I live in a semi-detached, so far no complaints

Same here, I just cannot imagine my life without Skittles. While I would NEVER initially encourage anyone to get a sun conure if they live in a building where they 'share' space (apts, townhouses, condos etc), I also won't say its impossible to do. It just requires a LOT of change, adjustment and sacrifice that most people would probably consider to be too extreme. But, IMO, the sacrifices I've had to make with Skittles are not that different than if I had a little toddler around.

The thing about sunnies, is like you said- the pitch. Its one thing to have a loud bird, its another thing to have a loud bird who's screeching is ear-piercing and NEVER a 'pleasant' sound. That being said, IMO, sunnies don't scream for no reason. The key to keeping the noise under control is in communication with your sunny.

Not all of Skittles sounds are ear-piercing. The 'danger alert' ones are the worst and are intolerable beyond a matter of seconds for even the most tolerant of parronts. But his other sreeches that are also 'loud' and 'ear-piercing' are tolerant long enough to address the cause. His morning and welcome screeches get aggravating after a few minutes- but fortunately, thats about how long they last and they stop. His doorbell and door knock ones don't last long. I really don't care for his "its bedtime" screeches but those don't last long either. Its all about addressing the cause in the moment that I have found is the best method. I make it a point to ask "why is he screeching? what does he see?" what does he need?".

I don't give him what he wants whenever he wants it. But I do address his needs. Skittles is smart enough to know that alerting me to his needs will work, but his wants (but can't have) will not. We have a great pattern of communication that even I find incredibly amazing because of just how smart the little stinker is! I believe this is the result of repetition and limit setting. If they do something to get your attention that is a no-no (ie, screaming when your on the phone) and when they do that you put them in timeout- they'll soon learn "okay, that doesn't work". But if they scream cause their food dish is empty and you go and fill it, they'll know that alerting you to that will work. BUT, you HAVE to be persistent 100% of the time in order to keep the 'repetition' working. Think of it like a 'trick' you train them to do. Thats pretty much how things are with Skittles. I matched certain 'cues' to work with certain behaviors and its been incredibly helpful.

 

[EllenD]

I want to second what Allee said, that I hope we didn't discourage you from getting another bird at all, that wasn't the goal at all..I would just hate to see you bring home a Sun Conure and then start to have issues with your neighbors after you've bonded with him/her, and then be faced with either re-homing the Sun Conure or moving out of your apartment. As already mentioned by Skittles and others, ALL Sun Conures are LOUD, but not all Sun Conures are loud all the time. The problem with that though is that you have no idea what you're going to get until you bring the bird home, even with a Sun Conure that is already an adult, because until they get into your apartment with you and they settle in and become comfortable you're not going to hear their average noise level...Leaving them free-flighted 24/7 without a cage and living on a stand or a tree-perch like a lot of people do with the larger parrots like Macaws and Amazons probably would cut down on their noisiness, just because they wouldn't be crying/screaming to get out of their cage, but again you don't know that until you try it, and it may also not be possible to leave your bird out free in your apartment 24/7 if you're not home and work all day long...But this doesn't mean you shouldn't bring home another parrot into your life and your family.

As a Green Cheek owner of almost 3 years and a breeder of them for a long time, I can say that they are probably like any other parrot you could bring home: sometimes they're loud, sometimes they're not, sometimes they scream, sometimes they don't. No different than any other parrot you're going to bring home. Some will be louder and/or more vocal than others, for example I have a male who is a big talker, and he talks all day long, and he often also "screams" his words and phrases, lol. But in comparison to a Sun Conure or a Jenday Conure in-terms of his volume, the Green Cheeks are probably have half the volume that they do, and are probably similar to a very vocal Cockatiel (I don't know how vocal your Cockatiel was, some are near mutes like my female, and some are vocal 24 hours a day, usually the males)...So a Green Cheek Conure would probably be a good choice for your apartment, because even when they are vocal they aren't any louder than any other small to medium parrot...

***Something else to think about might be a Nanday Conure...They are wonderful birds, about the same size as a Sun Conure or a Jenday Conure, very loving, cuddly little babies, but in-general they are not nearly as vocal or as loud in volume. In fact, most of the Nanday Conures I've had experience with were actually quite quiet compared to the Green Cheeks...But they're still very similar in personality and size to the Suns and Jendays...Something to think about if you want to stick to getting a species of Conure...Maybe others here who have or have had Nanday Conures could comment a little more on their personalities and their Volume and Vocality, my experience with Nandays has been strictly through the Rescue I work at and years ago when my mom bred them...

Again, any of the Poicephalus Parrots are going to be excellent choices, they are all about the same size or slightly larger than the Sun and Jenday Conures, but not much larger, and they all talk, sing, etc., but in-general they are actually quite docile and do not have much volume at all...My Senegal Parrot is by-far the quietest bird in the house even though he's the largest bird in the house...And my god is he smart!!! So a Senegal, a Meyers, a Red-Bellied, etc. would all be great choices to check out as well as the Nanday Conure...

Just to add one more odd-ball option to the works that I have quite a bit of experience with from the Rescue and that I almost brought home from the same breeder as my Kane (he tried to bait and switch me for about a minute when I first arrived to pick Kane up, only because he had one baby left that he was having issues finding a home for and was worried that he was going to become nippy because he didn't have enough time to spend with him every day), you might want to look-into a White-Fronted Amazon...I've also heard them called a Spectacled Amazon, same thing...They are the smallest species of Amazon Parrot, just a tad bit larger than a Sun or a Jenday Conure, about the same size as a Senegal or a Red-Bellied Parrot, they cost about the same for a hand-raised baby as a Senegal, Meyers, etc., are extremely intelligent, and are not at all loud like a lot of the larger Amazons...I think the White-Fronted/Spectacled Amazon gets lost among all the other larger Amazon species sometimes, just because they are so much smaller than the rest, sometimes it's like people don't really consider them to be an Amazon but rather more like a Conure or a Poicephalus or some other, smaller species/family of parrots...But they're wonderful birds, and would be a great Townhouse parrot...

 

[Rudustin]

I have a Golden Conure. I live in a condominium. One side of the unit banks the wash room and trash room and the elevators and the other side I have a neighbor and across the hall I have two neighbors. Muffin can make a lot of noise when I come home from work but for most of the day he is very quiet and plays with his toys. He is six months old and in spite of being noisy when I do arrive at home he generally is quite quiet. My neighbors are great about him and his voice. They often ask when they don't hear him if he is okay! I was concerned when I first got him that my neighbors might be bothered but my floor has several dogs and I rarely hear them. I have never had a Sun conure but I have known others that have had one and the noise level is constant and quite loud. Best to reconsider a Sun I think.