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I want to talk about Conure behaviors and how some are learned and some are natural.  This, hopefully, will give everyone some idea about how to  turn their Conure into the almost-perfect bird! 

A natural behavior is something that any bird would do in the wild.  The one I am going to touch on is: calling. 

CALLING:  every single bird will do this, primarily at dusk and dawn.  Picture yourself in a South American Jungle.  You are a Conure, and have roosted in a tree all night with your flock.  There are about 100 of your friends and family.  When the sun comes up, you open your eyes, stretch your wings and start finding your friends to go find breakfast.  How would you do that?  Call out!  100 bird voices yell out to find each other and make plans. 
After a day of flying the sun is starting to go down, you are now looking for another tree to roost in, and you once again, use calling out to find your family, tell them that you are near and that everything is OK.  Calling is vital in locating members of the flock, of telling others where the great food is, etc.  The a companion situation, we humans, are the flock.  So, a Conure will call out in the morning to see if you are awake and where you are.  At night, when the sun starts to set, once again you will hear chatter, and possibly again when you turn the lights out for the night. 

These calls are natural behavior.  There is not a whole lot we can do to change a natural behavior. 

However, a Conure who calls excessively and is rewarded by getting taken out of his cage, or given attention, will soon develop a learned behavior of excessive calling.  In this instance, we have created and positively reinforced a NEGATIVE behavior.  Excessive calling/screaming is one of the main reasons companion birds are re-homed.  BUT, never fear....you have the key to change this!  The solution is so simple too.  All you have to do is NOT reward the bird for screaming.  You may find that calling out to your bird in the morning and at night will actually help to create a stable bird.  If you yell with your bird in the morning (same at night), do it for up to 5 minutes.  After that time, simply turn away from the bird for a few seconds.  This may not work the first time, but repeated attempts should create a calming effect.  You can then reward the Conure for being quiet. 

So, we partner a NATURAL behavior with a LEARNED behavior to create the desired result.  A bird who will still do what it must (calling), but who will then also be secure enough to be quiet. 


Patience is a key to working with any bird or companion animal.  If the behavior does not work the first time, try again and again.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Conure Queen~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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