Ask Lafeber

How to Identify Age of Conure Birds

Dear,
I hope this email finds you well. I really appreciate your services for birds keeping. I am parrots lover and many parrots including IRN and Alexanderines are breeding well in my farm. I have recently bought a pair of Blue Turquoise Conure. I have bought conures for the first time. I request you to guide me at length about the the breeding of these little birds such as their care, cage and diet etc. According to the owner, both the birds are pair (male and female) as he has got their Sexing DNA done. He has yet to share DNA papers with me. He also claims that both the birds are adult. Would you please guide me what might be the signs to identify that both the birds are adult and ready to breed. Can we guess their age? I would also appreciate if you let me know how I can care these little birds the best so that they breed at my farm happily.

Hi,

If these are Blue-Crowned conures, then their care and breeding will be about the same as for your other birds. In fact Blue Crowns are now considered to be a parakeet and not a true conure. They have a unique trait that makes them one of the few parrots with a visible clue to their age as they get older. Most parrots have few visible changes after 1-3 years of age. But Blue Crowns have grey feet when they are young, which gradually change to pinkish and then orange – the brighter the orange, the older the bird. If your pair’s feet are still very grey, they may not be quite ready to breed. Usually the change to pinkish begins around 5 years of age. To be sure we are talking about the same species, this is the Blue Crown Conure.

Blue-Crowned Conure

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda