Introductions

[Matridom]

Hi everyone, I'm new to birds, was browsing around looking for information on Conures in general.

We have just gotten our gorgeous young Bird, however there is one slight problem.. We purchased Clover at a reputable store, She was sold to us as a Red Crowned conure/Cherry headed conure, however Clover does not resemble any of the pictures we have seen.

She's is so addorable we don't mind, but it would be nice to know her exact species.

Here is a picture of her, 2 days into her new home.

[Valo's Moirana]

first of all - welcome to BB you probably found one of the best places to get your questions answered

where have you seen these pics? i just typed it into google, and found tons of pics that look very similar to your sweetie (she's very pretty btw)
i also found a lot of information about the species... (i used cherry conure for google)

[Matridom]

The picture may not show it to advantage, but her tail is a deep red, almost cinnomon color, and her breast as a lot of moroon in it. There is no red on the shoulders, and her flight feathers (clipped at the moment) are a beautifull deep blue

[Luvmygrey]

Welcome to BB! What a cute fid!

[Monica]

I think what you have is a pyrrhura conure, not an aratinga (which is what cherry heads are).

She looks closest to a rose crowned conure, if she's not a hybrid. Can you get pictures of her wings outstretched, as well as her tail? How about how much she weighs in grams? Looks too small to be an aratinga, so my guess is about 100 grams? give or take 20?


For some comparison photos, here are some hybrid pics here...
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/09...NFids/Hybrids/


For comparison to a mitred AND a cherry head, here's pics of the two I have...

Charlie; Mitred - note his large size of body and feet






Noel; Cherry head - note again relatively large size, as well as beak compared to head




Also one must note that Noel (150-160 grams) is anywhere from 50-70 grams heavier than a regular sized tiel (bout 90-100 grams lets say), and Charlie (220-230 grams) is easily 60-70 grams heavier than Noel.


When closely comparing pics, you can easily see that Clover is far too small to be a cherry head, and Noel is said to be small for her species, even. I'd guess that Clover looks more like she's 85-100 grams, maybe a bit on the lower side.




Matridom, my suggestion is to go back to the petstore and ask for any papers on Clover, and if not, ask for information on the breeder, so therefore you can find out directly what she is.

[Matridom]

I'll follow up on the paper trail.

Having just gotten her, we still have equipment to buy, Playgym and scales are on that list.

I'll see about getting some better picture, She's very shy right now, so it's going to be a while before i get wing pictures. I'm currently tempting her out of the cage with some fresh vegtables. I can leave the cage door open all afternoon and she won't venture out...

[Tiki]

She's very pretty, but she does look a lot smaller than Monica's birds. Maybe she is a Pyrrhura hybrid with a Cherryhead, if that is possible?

[The Outlaw]

I know nothing about conures, but when I first looked at this, I thought it was some version of a green cheek.

[n8wb]

I am wondering if the adult colors will come out after the bird has it's first moult?

[Monica]

I have absolutely no clue if pyrrhuras and aratingas can hybridize. From my knowledge, they can't, but who knows?

My first thought was a hoffmans hybrid...since they have red ears and some have red tails...


Then I thought about it, and then thought that maybe it's a rose crowned? There's a couple different descriptions out there about them, however rose crowned conures have white flights at the end of their wings, or so I had read...



http://www.pyrrhurabreedersassociati...anspeakout.htm

Adults: The plumage is green. The forehead, crown, back of head and lores are red. Ear coverts and the tail is maroon. Throat and upper chest golden brownish tinge. There is a maroon patch of feathers on the abdomen. The carpal edge of the wing is orange with white. The primary coverts are white with occasional yellow feathers and some yellow feathers edged in blue. The outer flight feathers are a violet blue color. Eyes are brown, the beak is horn colored and the legs and feet are the color of cinnamon with cinnamon toenails. Eye ring is white.

www.mylittledarlings.com/rosecrownedconures.html

Rose-crowned Conure
Pyrrhyura rhodocephala (Sclater and Salvin)
Characteristics: 24 cm long. Green. Top of the head rose red. Ear coverts and spot on belly brownish red. White primary coverts. Tail red-brown. Beak horn colored, iris brown, legs dark grey.

Encyclopedia of Parakeets; pg 192