Hey all!
Well, I rescued a sun conure about 2 months ago and we're getting acquainted.
I'd like some information from you "sun owners" on personality, quirks, behaviors of the sun conure.

I learned sooooo much from this forum about my quaker so I'd love to learn about "Luci" the "licky" sun.

Luci will do anything to get on my shoulder and once she does she cuddles like crazy! She loves having her head rubbed. Then she proceeds to lick, lick, lick! I didn't know birds had so much saliva! It's like getting a sloppy kiss from a 1 yr old child!

How does your behave? What can I expect? How do they compare to the quaker in regards to intelligence, playfulness, temperament .... I've been reading up but it's just not as good as real life experiences from other people.

PLEASE SHARE!

Thanks guys!
Kim

Kim, you already know about Bo, so I won't torture you with any more of his antics except to say that when he is not ripping apart something expensive, he is very loving and has been from day one. I have had him 8 years.
His theory seems to be, if he can't destroy something expensive he just won't destroy anything at all!
Just gotta love 'em!

I don't have a sun conure personally but I volunteer at a place that has one and she is wonderful. She explores her cage and tears everything up. She is very smart, probably just as smart as QP's, but she is LOUD! Her call is louder than some of the larger birds there when she really wants to be heard! Of course, they are all different and some will not be loud, but in general I think conures are loud birds. She doesn't say anything but I don't think that says anything about the species in general, that's probably just her. But she is a quick learner and knows many cued behaviors. She isn't extremely playful but I'd say similar to QP's, temperament too.

I fostered a Sun for a few weeks and my good friend finally adopted him. He is gentle but very loud and wants to be on her shoulder all the time. He gives kisses too and says "Bot bot bot" all the time. His coloring is amazing and he's larger than my maroon belly and his noise is larger too. He doesn't say many human words. I've heard him say "step up" and put his leg in the air though. His main problem is that his previous owner loved him but got a girlfriend who hated the noise so they kept Waffles (his new name) in their garage for two months and then he spent a few months in a very small cage at a breeder's place until she could sell him on consignment. My dad purchased him and I fostered him for a while and my friend offered to adopt him. He LOVES her and is very happy. Suns are very acrobatic too. He'll hang upside down from his cage door, he climbs and swings all over everything when he can and his eyes are incredible. I like the white around their eyes. Looks like reverse eye liner. hee hee hee! If it weren't for the noise (and that my African Grey started imitating it so it sounded like I had two suns) I would have kept him for my own. But he's in a great place now with lots of love and he's part of a flock. Waffles loves to chew things and shred things and will try almost any new food. He's kind of a pig really. He loves attention, demands it frequently, and behaves well for the most part. He did go through an aggressive stage but I think it's mostly due to his abuse, alone in a garage for months that did it. Good luck! Got pictures?

Thats my Waffles she is talking Renee is talking about. As loud as he is he is my boy and I would never trade him for anything in the world. He is so happy. He loves to lick me with his tounge like a little dog and will climb down my shirt and sleep while I am on the computer and he loves the shoulder. I know it was meant to be with me and him he is so happy! He has his forever home with me no matter how loud he gets. He will even jump off his cage an cage and come and find me.

Petie is an absolute sweetheart but destroyer as well. When he is in his cage he is constantly chewing something to shreds. His favorite are wicker baskets and ladders. When he is out of his cage he constantly wants to play and sometimes a little rough but he is still a baby too. Once he is tired then he wants to lay on his back and sleep on my chest.

Oh Sun Conures...lol. They are just wonderful We have had our little girl, Spree, since April. We won her in a raffle and she was not treated well before we got her. Never handled, fed seed, hurt toe, dirty, feathers mangled etc. She was not hand fed and left with her parents for 2 months before being pulled and put in a cage to just sit by herself. It makes me cry thinking about her life before we brought her home. She will be one year old in December so she is still a baby.
Anyway...It took us a while to get her used to us enough to hold her. She was very scared. But as soon as she started trusting us...she wants to be with us ALLLL the time. We had to work with her to get her to the point where she would step off of us! She is such a sweet heart.
As far as being different from our quaker, Elliot, she is very very different. He is head strong..she is timid..he doesn't play with toys...she loves anything she can chew and take apart. Our quaker likes to fall asleep alone..she likes to fall asleep inside my shirt. Our quaker likes to be preened..she likes to do it herself of let our quaker do it. They are just so different its hard to list everything. Do you have any other birds? Our two get along for the most part. Never unattended but enough to where they can play on their cages together or on us or their play stands. As far as temperment...Spree was not treated well like I said..so as long as you dont surprise her with fingers in her space or by making sudden moves she is a jem. If you do surprise her she gets really nervous and pretends like she is going to bite...if you comply she doesnt...if you push she does lol. And a quaker bite....Is NOTHING compared to a sun conure bite. They do hurt bad and I'm sure you have discovered that by now But she only does it when she is scared and she does nip when playing but we are working on her getting to know her own strength.
As far as intelligence...They are both smart birds. Spree learned tricks a lot faster than Elliot...I think thats because he is more bull headed and just wanted the treat handed to him haha. I think working on tricks is a really good way to bond because they like to please you. God to birdchannel.com and look at the tricks they have on there for some ideas. Spree loves the "turn around" trick and will start doing it when she sees the treats come out
Some toys to try...the foraging toys where they have to figure out how to open it to get the treat(she is really good at them), toys with wood on them (she loves making sawdust), and swings (she loves any kind of swing)
Basically any toy my quaker doesn't like..she loves. Works out good for not wasting money
I'm sorry this was so long...you asked about sun conures compared to quakers and I went crazy!!! HaHa I hope all of that helps and feel free to PM me with anything else

Awww...I just love Suns! They are absolutely the most gorgeous birdies!!! I have never had the pleasure of owning one because my husband says he just can't take the noise, but I'd have one in a heartbeat if not for him. I think a Sun would get along a lot better with my caique than Simon the quaker does...oh well. Love to see some pics of your baby Kim!!!

My Sunny will always try to get on my shoulder when ever the opportinity arises. And if I am in the mood to let her sit there, she is just a little doll, until she leaves me little gifts on my shirt.

Yes, she is a "licker" She licks everything and I wonder if she thinks she is a dog LOL.

She is not loud but has a louder call than my qp, Nikki.

She is my big eater and thanks to her, the gals eat everthing and anything.

Se comes accross as being slow but she is just cautios. She is smarter than she acts though LOL.

Suns are fun and are just beatifult to watch.

To sum up what a sun is in one word would be "needy". I have two conures and they have lived together for most of their lives. My green cheek is almost 1 and is not so loud and not quite as demanding, but the sun who is about 4 months old is a demander. It wants to be near me all day every day. Both conures are pretty well bonded to each other, but they drop everything to spend time with me. I would say that conures are more group social then quakers, but quakers have a more dynamic intellegence then conure do. It is an unfortunate situation when the sun starts yelling at the top of it's lungs, but all I can really say is with a grain of salt the bird is great!

You guys/gals are all great for telling your tales! I so appreciate it. Every bird is so different and I am so curious to know all about each specific one. I just can't read about it in books alone, I love the personal experience from the people that I feel I know.

So, thank you, thank you, thank you, and keep them cards and letters coming!

Amoz, have you ever had a caique? Mine is the MOST demanding bird I've ever met. He wants to be right where we are every minute of the day, and is so different that my qp, who will happily stay on his playtop or parrot stand as long as there is something there to play with. Not Pogo tho, he wants to play with us every second he is awake. Also, he won't be content to sit on a shoulder...he just wants to PLAY PLAY PLAY!!! I'm not complaining, because he really is a joy to be around, and makes us laugh all the time, but I sure worry when my hubby goes back to work and there's not someone here all the time. He is going to go NUTS!!

Georgie is gorgeous and THE sweetest bird on the planet. But she wasn't always and still has her moments. She was badly abused. She does NOT like hands over head or strangers or dogs. AS long as you go slow you can do just about anything with her. She is very clingy and demanding, and a VERY messy eater, loves to fling food. She also loves to bathe in her water bowl and likes a fresh apple and chex mix,every morning and loves fresh veggies and fruit every evening.

Like all Suns, our Georgie LOVES to chew wood and shred paper. This is a little video of her that I think is her showing nesting behavior:


We just love our sweet little quirky, wacky girl!!

Hey, Thanks for the video - She's so pretty! Was that her making the little gurgly noises??

I havn't been fortunate to own a caique, but who knows maybe santa will leave me one when he drops my daughter's presents off lol.

Yes. We call those her "nutcake" moments!!

Lorikeets are the same way!

I don't have a sun conure....wish I could have one but they are a little loud-and my neighbors would probably stroke out from the stress.....

I have a Blue Crowned Conure. He is very sweet. Talks alot although not as much as QuakerQuaker. Tsuke likes to recite his knowledge over and over. He will carry on a very basic conversation. I sang a new song to him today and he said a new word "weird". He hadn't said this word before today. He picked up a couple of words and phrases here and there but normally uses them in conversation but he won't do them on command......weird
He loves perching on my shoulder. He definitely has a schedule that needs to be followed and god forbid if I should break it.
He detests baths. Will dunk his head and that's it. Hates the spray bottle. Doesn't like it when I preen him.
He is a clown. Loves to talk to me in garbly conure speech and loves yelling at my qp and telling him to be quiet. He's a little punk....but my punk