A Dusky Conure as a Pet Bird - An Affectionate and Clever Parrot

Dusky conures can make lovely pets and great companions. They’re small and attractive parrots and are clever birds. My dusky conure is called Cece, and she has been a member of my family for about five years. I got her from a breeder when she was a youngster and she has become an important part of my family. She is an affectionate bird, although she does have her feisty moments.

Dusky conures are also known as dusky-headed conures and Weddell’s conures. They live wild in South America but are also kept as pets and breed well in captivity. They are mainly green birds but have a grey or blue-grey head. The abdomen and part of the wings may be yellow, and the edges of the wings and tip of the tail may be blue. The birds have a white ring around the eyes and their beak is black. Adult dusky conures are about eleven inches long.

Cece is the only conure that I have ever owned. Many sources say that dusky conures are sweet, clever, calm and relatively quiet compared to other conures, who are generally noisy birds. Cece is clever and is often very sweet too - when she’s in the mood - but she is sometimes the opposite of calm and quiet! She is strong willed and quite feisty at times, and she has a loud call, but she also makes gentle chirping sounds when she is happy and relaxed. She gets on well with my moustache parakeet and is usually very affectionate towards me - but not so much towards the other members of my family.

Cece loves to climb over me and nestle under my clothes. She often becomes silent and motionless when she has settled under my sweater or shirt, and I have to remember that I'm carrying an invisible bird around so that she doesn't get hurt by my movements! At times Cece also likes to be stroked all over her body, even turning upside down on my lap for a chest and belly stroke. She can be very cuddly.

I don’t know Cece’s gender. Male and female conures look identical externally. I suspect that Cece is a male, based on certain aspects of “her” behavior, but when I first got her I referred to her as “she” and I’ve got used to doing this. Her gender could be determined by looking at DNA from a blood test, but I don’t want to put her through this. I don’t intend to breed her so it really doesn’t matter whether she’s a male or a female.

Diet

The main food for a dusky conure should be bird pellets with good ingredients, but the diet needs to be supplemented with pesticide-free fruits and vegetables. Although some seeds in a conure's diet are okay, perhaps as part of the pellets, many pet experts recommend avoiding an all-seed diet. They say that seeds don't provide all the nutrients that birds need, and observers know that conures in the wild feed on more than just seeds.

Cece and Petra, my moustache parakeet, love cooked sweet potatoes and corn in addition to their pellets. Some other suitable foods for conures are carrots, peas, green beans, broccoli, spinach, apples without the seeds, pears, oranges and cooked grains such as millet and rice. Sugary, fatty or salty junk food shouldn't be given to dusky conures, and avocado and chocolate must be avoided, since these both contain compounds that are poisonous for pet birds. Caffeine and alcohol should also be avoided.

The Cage

The cage needs to be big enough for your conure. Mine is thirty inches tall and twenty four inches wide. In addition, the bars should not be so far apart that a bird can get a head stuck between them. Cece spends the night in her cage but is free flying for most of the day. Petra usually spends the night on a perch attached to the top of Cece's cage. Petra and Cece do sometimes get into the same cage when the door is open, but I've never tried closing the door of a cage when both birds are inside. If your conure is free flying, you need to plan where the bird is allowed to fly to keep him or her - and your furniture - safe! Even if your conure can't fly he or she should be let out of the cage daily and interact with you.

Activities

Conures need toys and activities to keep them physically and mentally happy, and the activities need to be changed regularly so that the bird doesn't get bored. The toys also need to be made of safe materials. Conures like to take showers or baths occasionally. My birds love bathing in a dog food bowl and always get very excited during this activity. Some birds enjoy being sprayed with a fine mist. It's important to make sure that your bird doesn't get cold when he or she has wet feathers.

In my experience - and in the experiences of many other dusky conure owners - it's definitely worthwhile getting one of these birds as a pet. Their advantages far outweigh their drawbacks as far as I am concerned. However, you should be aware of these drawbacks - they may be more important to you than they are to me.

First, as is true for any pet, looking after a dusky conure requires time and money. The cage must be an adequate size for your bird and needs to be cleaned regularly. The bird's beak and claws need to be kept in good condition and you will need to visit the vet if necessary, carrying the bird in a safe container. It's also very important to interact with your bird frequently, to let him or her out of the cage often and to give the bird fun activities to do. Toys need to be replaced when they are damaged or to give the bird something new to do.

Good food needs to be purchased to keep your bird in top condition. You should try to avoid the bird food that most supermarkets sell and find a good pet store that has healthy food. This pet store food may be more expensive and the store may be located further from your house than your local supermarket. A good diet helps keep the bird's immune system working properly, so it's worth searching for healthy food. You need to buy fruits and vegetables for your conure in addition to pet store food.

I have to travel quite a long way to buy my favorite food, but the specialty bird store that I visit sells the food in bulk, which I then freeze. I also appreciate the owner's extensive knowledge of birds. The store is associated with an avian vet, who has her clinic right next to the bird store. If you own a pet, make sure that you know the location, route and open hours to your nearest emergency vet in case a visit is ever necessary.

Dusky conures are chewers and complete their damage rapidly. I’ve got small holes in several items of clothing, since Cece spends a lot of time perched on me. I’ve learned to wear old clothes in the house because I’m not going to stop carrying her around. It’s definitely not a good plan to wear anything valuable around a dusky conure, including jewelry such as earrings. Be very careful if you wear hearing aids and have a pet bird who perches on your shoulder, especially if the hearing aid has any visible parts that the bird could damage!

Cece does sometimes nip me when she is in one of her feisty moods, but she's never bitten hard enough to make me bleed. She can be noisy when she's excited, such as when she sees someone coming down the driveway or when she's interacting with Petra. I live in a house, not an apartment, but even so I can hear Cece and Petra shrieking together from outside the house. Luckily the calls don't last for long. Cece may be noisier than she would normally be because she's copying Petra. In the wild dusky conures are social birds, so I'm glad that Cece has Petra's companionship as well as mine. She enjoys his company even though he belongs to a different species.

Conures aren't great talkers, which may be a disadvantage for some people. When the birds do produce words they are often indistinct. They can be taught to perform tricks, however. Like other pet birds conures can be messy, dropping food when it's only half eaten and pooping whenever they feel the urge. Newspaper or another covering below a popular perch can make clean-up easier. Some people say that they have been able to potty train their dusky conure, getting the bird to poop on command in a suitable place.

One more thing to be aware of is that conures can live for as long as twenty five years. You need to think about the future. Is the bird likely to outlive you? If so, is there someone that you trust who will take of your bird when you are no longer able to?

If you're prepared for the work involved in looking after a pet bird and for the other possible drawbacks, a dusky conure makes a great pet. I'm very fond of Cece. Her occasional bad moods are annoying when they happen, but her good moods are wonderful! It's lovely to have a close relationship with a parrot.