Sun conures are among the most stunning parrots in the world.
Also known as the sun parakeet, the sun conure is one of the most beautiful parakeets. With a canary-yellow body, bright-red face and a smattering of green feathers throughout, the friendly sun conure is what most parrot owners wish their parrots looked like. At between $400 and $600 apiece, this little one probably costs more per ounce than any other legally available bird --- bad news if you're buying one, but fantastic news if you're a breeder. Conure nesting boxes are fairly easy to build, and they shouldn't take a reasonably skilled carpenter more than an hour.
Instructions
1. Cut the sides of your box from medium-density fiberboard, or MDF. Cut two pieces 8 inches wide by 8 inches tall; we'll call them the "A" walls. Cut two more pieces 8 inches tall by 11 inches long; we'll call these the "B" walls. The floor of your cage will be a piece of MDF measuring 8 inches wide by 12 inches long.
2. Run a thin bead of wood glue along one of the 8-inch edges of a B wall. Hold the B wall edge against the inside edge of an A wall. Drive three finishing nails through the A wall and into the edge of the B wall. The nails are only there to hold the walls together while the glue dries.
3. Repeat Step 2 with another B wall, and cap off the other side with an A wall. Run a bead of glue around the upward-facing edges of your walls and lay the floor on top. Secure it with two finishing nails driven through the floor and into the edge of each wall. Flip the assembly over and allow one hour for the glue to set.
4. Drill a hole in the center of an A wall exactly 4 1/2 inches from the bottom of the outside of the wall --- not the floor inside. Mark a 4-inch-diameter circle around the hole; a tin can makes an excellent template for this purpose. Cut along the circle with a jigsaw to create a door for your birdies.
5. Run a belt sander over all the box's joints to even them out, and finish-sand the box with 180-grit sandpaper. Sand all the rough edges and flat areas to smooth the box out.
6. Cut your mirrored one-way glass or Lexan plastic to 8 inches by 12 inches, and sand the edges smooth with 220-grit, 320-grit and 400-grit sandpaper. Fill the box to the bottom of the entry hole with nontoxic sawdust, clean straw, newspaper or aspen wood shavings. Don't use pine, cedar or redwood shavings; they'll emit aromatic hydrocarbons and acids that could hurt the chicks.
7. Place the one-way glass on top of the box, with the mirror-side facing down. The birds will only see the mirrored inside of the box, but you'll be able to observe the birds and chicks anywhere in the box without interfering. You could place a weight on the glass to keep it in place, but a strip of duct tape will work just as well.
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