A sun conure.
The sun conure, a small bird with a loud voice, has the ability to mimic human speech but not with excellent accuracy. The bird offers a friendly, loving, playful disposition. Sporting feather shades of orange, yellow, green and red, the sun conure offers a striking appearance. Male and female look identical and sexing may be determined only through DNA analysis or surgical vent scoping. The birds live up to 30 years.
Breeding Age
Sun conures breed well in captivity. Most species reach sexual maturity when they are 2 years old. The larger sun conure species often has a short delay in sexual maturity and does not reach breeding age until between 3 and 4 years of age. The first clutch of eggs from a newly mated young pair is often infertile.
Nesting Box
Sun conures require a nesting box to encourage them to breed. Provide a deep nesting box so the sun conure will keep the nesting material in the nest around the eggs. When cocktail sized nesting boxes are provided the sun conure often throws or kicks out the the nesting material. A nesting box that is 18 to 24 inches deep is ideal. A nesting box with a 3-inch entrance works well for the sun conure.
Metal Verses Wood
Always maintain the same nesting box for the sun conure pair through each clutch. A wooden nesting box rarely lasts long because the sun conure enjoys chewing, but a metal nesting box will last through many clutches. Placing wood shavings in the bottom of the nesting box offers a soft material for the eggs and chicks.
Clutch Size
After mating has occurred the female will sit in the nest box and lay one egg per day. Clutch sizes vary from three to eight eggs. The average size is three to five eggs. The female sits on the eggs for 23 to 27 days before the young hatch. Only the female incubates the eggs, but the male remains near to protect the female and the eggs.
Care of the Young
Female and male both care for the hatchlings, which may be removed from their parents and fed by hand. Most conures are fully fledged when they are 50 days old.
Handfeeding
Sun conure chicks must be fed within 12 hours of hatching to prevent them from dying. For unknown reasons, the parents often reject one hatchling and refuse to feed it. If by 12 hours after hatching a baby bird has not been fed, it must be removed and fed by hand to survive.
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