The Green Cheek Conure (Pyrrhura molinae), also known the Green Cheeked Parakeet, Argentine Conure, Santa Cruz Conure, and Yellow sided ConureYellow. Green conures are playful and social birds for sale that have become popular pets due to their small size, beauty, and intelligence. Green Cheek Conures have stolen many a bird lover’s heart in recent years for their curiosity, spunk, and playful nature. Those who are able to provide for the needs of a Green Cheek Conure, receive a loving and devoted little pet in return. You might enjoy reading this Conure Handbook as you learn all about your new conure.
The Green Cheeked Conure is perhaps poorly named, since there are many Pyrrhuraconures with green cheeks. To distinguish it from its close relative and lookalike, the Maroon-bellied Conure, check the head. The Green cheeked will have a brown crown. There are five natural subspecies in the wild, and breeders have also developed several attractive color mutations, so you can find a favorite color whether you prefer Turquoise, Cinnamon, or more. The Yellow Sided Conure, a natural color morph, belongs to the Pyrrhura molinae sordid subspecies, but was once wrongly thought to be a completely different species because of its strikingly colorful belly
Geography: The five subspecies of the Green Cheeked Conure are all found in the central part of South America including portions of Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, and Paraguay.
Size: around 10 inches in length from the beak to the tip of the tail feathers
Life Span: 20-30 years
Vocals: Although most never talk, Green Cheek Conures do well with training and are known to be fast learners. They may learn to say a few words if you are patient, but don’t have unreasonable expectations for their voice.
Temperament: This willingness to learn plays a big role in the Green Cheek’s popularity today. Vocal and engaging, conures are quite the personality packed into a little package. Green Cheek Conures love spending time with their owners and do well with those who can devote several hours a day to socializing their pets. Like all birds, Green Cheeks can be nippy and uncooperative at times, but as a general rule, they are among the most “laid back” of the Conures.
Exercise is extremely important to Green Cheek Conures and all parrots. In the wild, these birds might fly many miles per day in search of food, a mate, or a nesting site. It can be hard to provide the means to duplicate this in captivity but if you can devote a minimum of 2 hours per day to supervising your conure during out of cage exercise and play time, it should be sufficient to keep your bird healthy and happy.
The Green Cheek Conure does best with cages at least 24”w by 18”d by 24” h, and with a bar spacing of around ½ inch.
Breeding: Green cheeked conures are among the easiest to breed. They mature between 1 and 3 years, often reaching sexual maturity at 1 year of age. Some females can mature as early as 7 months, but for the overall health of the bird, professional breeders discourage allowing them to mate before they reach 1 year of age.
Breeding season for Green-Cheeked Conures is February, and you may observe the female spending time “hiding” in the nesting box, or backing her vent against the cage bars. Both parents sit on the eggs for 22 to 25 days. If neither bird sits on the eggs by 10 days after laying, they will never hatch and should be disposed of. The average clutch is between four to six eggs, though larger clutches have been reported.
Diet: Pet conures do best on a balance diet of fruits, veggies, and protein supplements with a good quality pellet or seed such as our nutritious Conure Seed and Australian Blend Goldenfeast,. Whole nuts and bigger, more satisfying seeds like sunflower seeds can be held back to be fed by hand or as part of a daily trick-training routine. All conures may be at risk for Conure Bleeding Syndrome, caused by a vitamin K deficiency, so it’s important to add vitamin K rich food like turnip tops and other dark leafy greens to their diet.
