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The Green-cheeked Conure is a small parrot of the genus Pyrrhura. It is primarily green, with a grey breast, dark head, maroon tail and blue flight feathers. Its normal weight is about 70 g; its average length (including tail) is 25 cm (10 inches).
It occurs in west-central and southern Mato Grosso, Brazil, through northern and eastern Bolivia to northwestern Argentina. Its habitat is forests, where it forms big flocks at treetop level. It eats various seeds and fruits and probably other kinds of vegetable matter.
The Green Cheeked Conure is most readily available conures in aviculture, and therefore the least expensive. But, don't let their small size or price fool you. They have every bit of the great personality as the bigger conures. They are a great "next-step-up" from Cockatiels, (for pet owners and new breeders), since they are more like having a big parrot.
Life span: 30 years or more with proper care.
Colors: Green Cheeks are mainly green, but also have maroon tails, a grey to yellow throat area, bright blue wing tips, and a maroon patch on the belly area. There is also a diluted version called Cinnamon and an intensely colored version called Yellow-Sided. Turquoise is still quite rare and very expensive. Breeders are combining these colors for some very beautiful results.
Energy level: Very high - lots of toys and attention are nessesary to keep these birds happy.
Talking ability: Fairly well. Equal ability among males or females. They have such tiny voices that usually only the owner can understand. Not really into whistling, but will try. Most will repeat a few words and common houshould noises. Can have large vocabularies with coaching.
Unique characteristics: Will lay on their back to play or sleep, bathe frequently with entire body submerged, dangle by one foot from the top of the cage or a human friend's hair just to check out the view and will hold food or treats with a foot while eating, like a big parrot. They enjoy being scratched all over, usually while laying upside down in your hand or on a lap.
All About Yellow Sided Green Cheek Conures
In personality, all mutations of Green Conures are the same. The only difference in the mutations is color.
Yellow Sided Green Cheeks are a beautiful mutation of the Normal Green Cheek Conure. A man named Forshaw first spotted the Yellow Sided Green-cheek mutation in the wild and he thought it was a separate species. In early editions of the book, "Parrots of the World", Forshaw names them Pyrrhura hypoxantha or the Yellow-sided Conure. It wasn't until this mutation was imported with other Green Cheeks from the wild that it was determined not to be a separate species. The importation of Yellow Sided Green Cheeks occurred in the early 1980’s at a quarantine station in CA and ended up with Steve Garvin and Deanna Ferris. They began independently breeding these initial Yellow Sided conures to discover how the mutation was transmitted. At this time, they did not even know for sure if it was a mutation or a sub-species at this time. It was all further complicated by the initial Yellow Sideds being females only. They had to line breed for several generations to produce male Yellow Sideds. Thus, it took them several years to produce a male Yellow Sided.
Here are a few links to learn more about Green Cheek Conures: