Conures

 

Conures are a diverse, loosely-defined group of small to medium-sized parrots. They belong to several genera within a long-tailed group of the New World parrot subfamily arinae. The term "conure" is used primarily in bird keeping, though it has appeared in some scientific journals. The American Ornithologists' Union uses the generic term parakeet for all species elsewhere called conure, though Joseph Forshaw, a prominent Australian ornithologist, uses conure.

 

Despite being large for parakeets, conures are lightly built with long tails and small (but strong) beaks. Conure beaks always have a small cere and are usually horn-colored or black. Most conure species live in flocks of 20 or more birds. Conures often eat grain, and so are treated as agricultural pests in some places.

 

Conures are as diverse a group as African Parrots, so trying to characterize them all is difficult and inaccurate. The categoryconure is loosely-defined because they do not currently constitute a natural, scientific grouping. The term conure is now used mostly in aviculture. Scientists tend to refer to these birds as "parrots" or "parakeets." 

 

Some conures are:   

• Conuropsis: Carolina Parakeet (extinct)

• Cyanoliseus: Patagonian Conure

• Enicognathus: Austral and Slender-billed Conures

• Guarouba: Golden or Queen Of Bavaria Conure

• Leptosittaca: Golden-plumed Conure

• Nandayus : Nanday Conure---no longer in its separate species (Nandayus)-- but now an Aratinga species

• Ognorhynchus: Yellow-eared Conure

• Sun Conure

• Green Cheek Conure

• And many more