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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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Time and time again, I have new owners ask me about potty training their new Conure.  Now, while this may SEEM like a great idea to you, please know that there are dangers and repercussions that could seriously harm your Conure. 

First, poop is the birdie-barometer of health.  We look at all the poop every single day to be sure of health.  Conures, like all birds, will disguise health problems often until it is fatal.  Looking at poop, though gross to some, can tell you how your bird is feeling. 

Birds are small animals, who eat a diet that is mainly fuel and easily digested.  Birds have a much higher metabolism than mammals. Their normal body temperature is over 100 degrees farenheit and food passes through the digestive track of a parrot in about 30 minutes. After eating, food is stored in the crop and is gradually passed into the rest of the digestive tract. For this reason, birds will poop periodically for 2-3 hours after eating.   A small bird can "go" every 5-15 minutes.  The stools are made up or urates and feces.  So, with every "mess" they urinate and defecate. 

Now let's get to the danger.  A Conure is an intelligent animal.  BUT, may not fully understand what you are asking of them.  So, if you give "birdie" a command of "go potty" and reward for the bird "making" (a reward being a treat or attention), the bird learns that on command he/she needs to "mess" and then will get rewarded.  BUT, what we forget is that these small animals should only "hold it" for no more than 15 minutes, and that they need to have the freedom of thought to do it in their cage with no commands.  Most birds will NOT distinguish this with a command.  So, what you are really teaching is that the bird will only "go" on command, and will actually STOP going by itself.  This could harm and even kill the bird by backing up the digestive system and urinary tract. 

The only correct way to successfully train your Conure to potty where he should it to keep an eye out for the "signs of potty" and keep your baby fully flighted. 

You will notice that the bird will squat and sometimes raise its wings and back up a bit before going. They will also crouch a bit and lift up the tail to facilitate pooping.  Observe your bird and get to know what behaviors it performs when getting ready to poop. Catching the bird as it begins these behaviors, is the time to intervene and train the bird on where to go potty.

If you want your bird to go only in it's cage, then when you notice these signs, take your bird and place them in the cage.  Do this time after time, and most birds will get the hint and fly back to their cage to potty. 

The best advice is to NOT give a verbal command.  The bird will associate going back into the cage to potty with being a good thing and will fly back to the cage to mess.


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