Say hello to Rio the Sun Conure.

Tell us about Rio

Rio is a 2 year old Sun Conure. I purchased him from a private breeder when he was 3 months old. He wasn’t tame and was quite scared. After some very tedious daily interaction sessions, he’s the cuddliest bird ever! It’s very rewarding when they finally adjust to you and love being around you.

Why did you choose a Conure?

I chose a Conure because they suited me and I suited them very well. They aren’t big, but they aren’t small either; they’re a perfect size! I saw several posts of friends with birds and having kept birds in the past, it wasn’t very hard to decide the time was right to get a cute companion; so the quest was on!

What is Rio’s favourite food?

Rio’s favourite food is apples, by far. On a daily basis, I feed him ZuPreem Natural Pellets, which ensures he is getting all his nutrients. He also loves sweetcorn, peppers and chillies (don’t let them kiss you after eating chillies; trust me!)

Does Rio have any favourite toys?

Rio has PLENTY of toys… but he doesn’t seem to favour any one of them. He loves shredding (or attempting to shred) chew toys, my finger and a few plastic toys, which I make at home for him. He also loves to shred the paper roll toy (which I purchased from Northern Parrots) and it definitely keeps his beak busy!

Does he like to play any games?

Rio absolutely LOVES games. Since I’ve had Rio, he’s learnt several new tricks; such as waving on command, stepping-up, turning around on command and also fetching!

Even then, he has tons of energy left over. Another quirky feature of Rio, is that he loves to fly to the top of the mirror and pick up the keys, fly across the room and drop them on me. He then flies back so I can’t give him a telling off!

Finally, I make a beeping noise and I slowly put my finger closer and closer to his body and he slowly swerves to one side, turns his head up and gives me a little kiss (sometimes a bite when he’s cranky) on my finger!

Does he speak?

Conures aren’t renowned for their speaking abilities, however Rio has quite a good vocabulary. He says “step-up” when I say step-up, he says his name, he says “Hello Rio” and he also mumbles under his breath when I walk away from him. Rio laughs so much when I put him his daily fruits and veggies; it sounds so evil!

Do you have any advice for Conure owners?

They scream; very loud. I always knew that Rio was a screamer, due to his breed. Even after this knowledge, I still underestimated the screechiness of Rio; it was hard to believe that such a loud scream came from such a small bird!

Also, be prepared to take them out every single day. Conures are extremely affectionate and kind and I wouldn’t want it any other way. They love being out of the cage, playing, eating and screaming to get your attention.

Finally, they are regarded to as the ‘guard-dogs’ of the Parrot kingdom, due to their alertness both indoors and out to any suspicious things… (cats mostly).

If you and your Parrot would like to be featured in a future Meet My Parrot, please email us our answers to these questions (and some photographs) to info@northernparrots.com

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