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zooboy28

Peach-fronted Conure - Parrot Place, 2010.

Peach-fronted Conure - Parrot Place, 2010.
zooboy28, 28 Mar 2011
    • zooboy28
      Welcome to another round of NAME THAT BIRD!

      Can anyone beat Chlidonias???

      These are probably reasonably easy to ID, and I should be able to work them out... but I can\'t.

      Photo taken at The Parrot Place, January 2010. Its a private bird collection, which focuses on parrots, hence the name. Has a few finches and quails as well. Quite nice, in the subtropical north of New Zealand, and they have several friendly birds to interact with too, including a Scarlet Macaw (Elmo) which climbs all over people.
    • Chlidonias
      peach-fronted conure (Aratinga aurea)
    • zooboy28
      Thanks Chlidonias, not a species I have ever seen before. Conures, with the exception of the abundant Sun Conures, seem to be a rarity in NZ zoos.
    • Chlidonias
      the only conures I know of in NZ aviculture are as follows, with some very subjective status notes:
      *Golden conure -- very very rare, probably less than five individuals (if there's even still any around)
      *Sun conure -- very common
      *Jandaya conure -- reasonably common
      *Peach-fronted conure -- uncommon
      *Blue-crowned conure -- very uncommon
      *Nanday conure -- common
      *Monk (quaker) parrot -- very common
      *Maroon-bellied conure -- common
      *Green-cheeked conure -- not as common as maroon-bellied

      ....and then there's the so-called "Sunday conure" which you see advertised every so often. Its a hybrid between the sun and the jandaya, hence the name.

      As you say, only the sun conure seems to be shown in the main zoos. I don't know why the Pyrrhura species (the maroon-bellied and green-cheeked) aren't in zoos more. They breed prolifically with large clutches, and they are small, relatively quiet and non-destructive. The quaker is another conure that really should be displayed more because they nest colonially and unlike other parrots build very large stick nests which would make a very interesting exhibit.
    • Jabiru96
      I am actually surprised that these arent as common as maroon bellied conures. I would got as far to say that green cheeks are more common. My local pet shop (which is actually a pretty big shop that also sells macaws) has hand raised ones for sale and I am still considering buying one.
    • Chlidonias
      over here you see maroon-bellies for sale in pet shops relatively often (relative being in terms of conure availability, not general parrot availability) but rarely green-cheeks. They do seem to be reasonably common as aviary birds, just less so than the maroon-bellies which have become very common, but I don't really know why that should be.
    • Jabiru96
      It is pretty much the opposite over here. I have never seen a maroon-bellied being sold in a pet shop but tonnes of pet shops sell green cheeks and variants of them (cinnamon and others).
    • Chlidonias
      I was just googling prices and I can't believe how cheap conures are over in Australia! Even your rare mutations are often cheaper than our wild-type birds. A pair of peach-fronted conures here is roughly NZ$700 (c. $300 for a single male). Maroon-bellies and green-cheeks are normally between NZ$300 and 400 a pair (around $150 upwards for a single bird). In contrast Google found me a number of pet green-cheeks in Australia for as little as AUS$40 each.
    • Electus Parrot
      Wow, I have never seen that price before. If that were the price I would have a flock of them. Last time I saw some for sale they were a couple of hundred bucks.
    • Jabiru96
      That $40 bird would most likely either be a breeder or untamed/aviary bird. Hand-raised ones usually go for at least $150 but cinnamons might get up to $400 in the more expensive stores.
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  • Category:
    New Zealand - Other
    Uploaded By:
    zooboy28
    Date:
    28 Mar 2011
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    Comment Count:
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