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Jenday Conures are a very colorful, medium size bird. They are closely related to Sun Conures, both being in the aratinga conure family. As with many Conures, they are mostly green. They have a yellow head, and orange front. Their tail is tipped with red or blue, and their wings are commonly tipped with blue. They will have a white to pale grey ring around the eye. Their beaks and feet are black. They certainly are a very colorful bird!

It is believed that Suns, Gold Caps and Jendays are all part of the same species, as opposed to being three separate species or sub-species. They are the same bird, but just a different color variation depending on the region they are from.

Jenday Conures come from South America, and are mostly found in Northern Brazil and Northeastern Argentina. They are easy to breed, and are very popular to bird breeders.

Jendays are a very playful bird. If raised as a baby, they are extremely friendly and do well around children. They love to be handled, and are trained easily.

Jendays are considered a medium sized Conure, averaging around 10 to 12 inches long and weigh 100-180 gm. If properly cared for, they have a lifespan of 20-30 years.

Like most Conures, Jendays are fairly noisy. They have a loud and harsh scream that they use to get your attention. They are also capable of talking, but from my experience they only say a couple of words. They are not known to be very good talkers, however there are cases where they can be good talkers if worked with daily over a long period of time.

Jendays are a very playful bird that loves to be handled and played with. If you get a very young Jenday, it’s recommended that you play with it daily. Let him sit on your lap while you watch TV, and let him play with some toys or wooden blocks. This interaction will make him very tame and friendly.

Their diet is important, and Jendays have a couple of unique requirements. They are susceptible to Conure Bleeding Syndrome, which is caused by the lack of Vitamin K. This condition prevents the bird from being able to clot their blood, causing excessive bleeding.

This can be easily prevented by supplying your bird leafy green vegetables such as broccoli, brussel sprouts and spinach. Some breeders offer their birds parsley leaves to munch on, which is very high in Vitamin K. You can use wheat bran in some home made dishes for them to eat, or supply some diced kiwifruit and bananas. This makes Jenday Conures one of my favorite birds, as I now have an excuse to get rid of my icky vegi’s that my wife tries to feed me. They somehow end up in our birds food dish!

They also love shredded meat or pasta, bean sprouts and hard boiled eggs. Some breeders we know are firm believers in feeding sprouts to their Conures, but I never ventured into growing them myself…this is one of my future research projects.

As usual, be sure they get enough calcium, especially in the females. If you feed your bird a pellet diet, and supplement it with fruits and vegi’s, you will not have to worry too much about this. Pelleted diets are formulated to have all the vitamins and minerals most birds need, and you only need to supplement certain items specific to your bird (like Vitamin K)

Jendays will require a few additional maintenance chores then other birds. They are very good flyers, and since they have a lighter body then other conures, they will take flight unless you do a lot of extensive wing clipping. You want the bird to be able to glide to the floor and not get hurt, but you also want to prevent full flight. With Jendays, you need to educate yourself on how to clip wings, or else expect a lot of trips to the vet. If they can’t fly, they won’t get into trouble!

While Jendays are susceptible to a number of common bird diseases, they are usually fairly healthy and easy to care for. By monitoring their behavior and looking for the telltale signs of problems, you should not have any major problems with their health.

Jendays are known to love to chew. If you have them out of their cage, you must monitor them to ensure they don’t damage your furniture or woodwork. Supply them with some toys they can chew on inside their cage. Most common are colored wood blocks or sticks. Our Jenday enjoyed destroying colored popsicle sticks, quickly turning them into toothpicks. They also love any toys that make noise. You can be a bit creative and make your own using some bells, beads, and bottles.

One of the bird breeds that we frequently recommend for a new pet owner is the Quaker (Monk) Parrot This bird is a great starter bird because it has a lot of things pet owners are looking for…playful, talking ability, not too loud, and easy to maintain.

So, what I’ve done is put together a “factsheet” to help you decide if this bird is for you.

BACKGROUND

Quakers have been around as pets for a long time. Native to South America, they are the only breed of parrot that builds their nests in colonies. Because of this, they have developed into four distinct subspecies. However, in the last few decades they were brought into the United States and Europe, where wild Quakers have become considered a pest. This is because they are a very hardy bird, and prolific breeder. In their native country of Argentina, Quakers are reportedly responsible for 30% of the corn crop destruction. In the US, they have been known to build huge colony nests which interfere with utility cables and towers. Because of the potential of becoming a major agricultural pest, they are banned or restricted in several states. Connecticut, for example, bans the sale or breeding of Quakers. This problem became a major concern when Quakers were being imported in 1993 in greater numbers, and many got into the wild. Colonies began to develop in states as far north as Illinois and New York, with some smaller colonies being recorded in Colorado!

Currently, Quakers are widely available. Because they are prolific breeders, and can produce clutches or 4 to 8 eggs, they are a popular bird for pet breeders to raise. Over the years, several different color mutations have been developed, making them even more popular (and expensive).

MUTATIONS

Over the years, Quakers rapidly became a popular pet, and professional breeders have developed a number if color mutations. The normal Quaker color is green, with gray on their chest and chest. You may have already heard about blue mutations of Quakers, but there are also many variations of this. You can also find yellow, lutino, and gray and white. These birds are very difficult to find (and expensive!) but as more breeders begin to breed them, they should become available. At one point, the Blue Quaker was extremely hard to find, but currently they are readily available for as little as $300.

HEALTH

Quakers are fairly hardy birds. Their average lifespan is 25 to 30 years if well cared for. They are known for developing Fatty Liver Disease, especially in domesticated birds. This is usually helped on by owners who feed an all seed diet and practice poor nutrition. Quaker owners need to educate themselves a little on this disease.

Quakers are also known as bad feather pluckers. This is sometimes due to poor diet, but many times is behavioral. It can also get quite severe, turning into Quaker Mutilation Syndrome, where the bird begins to chew and damage the skin itself.

WHERE TO BUY

Quakers are readily available at most large pet stores, and are actively bred by many bird breeders. It is highly recommended that you search out a hand fed baby, as trying to train an older Quaker can sometimes be a challenge for a new bird owner.

The cost will very depending on where you buy it, and what part of the country you live in. Since Quakers are very prolific, many breeders in warm climates have large outside aviaries, and are able to mass produce them. They can be purchased for as little as $50. In northern climates, it is common for many breeders to have a couple of pairs, and they sell their babies at bird shows or to pet shops. These can be purchased for $175-$300.

PERSONALITY

The personality of the Quaker is one of their main features! They are comical and intelligent, capable of teaching tricks to. They are in the top ten list of talking birds.

They can be entertained for days with a handful of toys, straws, shoe laces, and puzzles. They love to weave things through the bars of their cage. This goes back to their instincts of creating nest colonies.

Puzzles? You bet! One of the most common tricks Quakers will teach YOU is how easy they can break out of their cage! These escape artists have driven us crazy attempting to find clamps or straps they couldn’t remove. Our solution was to give them puzzle toys and hide treats into them. They will occupy their time getting their treats and not getting out of their cage….and into trouble.

Quakers will usually bond to one person (hopefully their owner) and can be very protective. Nothing scares them. If they are on the floor, no feet are safe! And you will find that your pet dog or cat will make a wide detour around them.

NOISE

Quakers are not known to be a very noisy bird. This makes them a great companion bird for apartment residents. They don’t “scream” but tend to have a loud “chip” or “chatter”. If you have more then one Quaker they may tend to get loud as the talk to each other….mostly in the mornings and evenings.

FEEDING

Due to their tendency to become overweight, you must watch their diets. As usual, we do not recommend an all seed diet. Quakers will require a good pellet diet with lots of fruits and vegetables. You may also need to supplement their Vitamin B and Calcium. To do this, sprinkle a good powdered vitamin mix on their fresh food. Our favorite trick is to take a 2 inch section of corn-on-the-cob (raw), moisten it and sprinkle a little vitamin power on it. We use a mix of vitamin, hand feeding formula and powered calcium. Quakers are suckers for corn! Try to stay away from feeding fatty nuts.

CAGE

Quakers can get along just fine in a cockatiel size cage. Their tail is not that long, so large cages are not necessary. An 18×18x24 will do fine. Just make sure they have room for their toys. They are a very active bird, so if you do not intend to give them time outside of their cage, you may want to invest in a larger cage/play area.